For many Black Americans, the outdoors feel off limits. Black birders want to change that. Black Birders Week, an initiative that grew out of the 2020 racial justice movement, is happening this week with events through Saturday in cities across the country. The idea emerged from an online networking group of Black people pursuing careers in the sciences. “We started talking about our experiences being Black outdoors, either birding or doing field work and encountering racist violence,” Chelsea Connor, a graduate student and herpetologist at Clemson University recalled. “We were angry and hurt and scared.” A Penn State University study released this year found a historical gap between the ratio of white and Black Americans going outdoors has widened during the COVID-19 pandemic. Access to park space also remains an issue. Prior studies found that parks in predominantly white and high-income areas have about one acre for every 50 people. But parks serving predominantly minority communities have just one acre for every 500 people. Despite being clear-eyed about the challenges facing Black Americans in science and the outdoors, Black Birders Week organizers say they see signs of progress. Read more about Black Birders Week at the link in our bio. / 📸 William Cain, for USA TODAY