Thread by @RaeWynnGrant

Some good and some bad news:
1) I’m going to be on a PBS special tomorrow called American Spring Live 8pm eastern- I’ll be investigating a black bear den and cuddling newborn cubs. Tune in!

2) I’ve just arrived on location for the show - in Oakland, MD on the border of West Virginia. Upon getting off the highway I was greeted with a big house with a large front lawn and old tree. Hanging from the tree was an effigy of a lynched black man. Life sized.

Continuing down the road, each house was flying a confederate flag loud and proud. Many homes had confederate symbols posted all around their property.

Certainly violent white supremacy masked as a type of proud culture isn’t new to any of us. But I am tasked with performing science communication at the national level and ideally flawlessly to make PBS and my community proud. And yet, the blatant statement of murdering black ppl

Is a distraction to say the least, and a heavy mental blow that will take a lot to recover from. I am not fearing my safety today, but am deeply concerned for the POC (if any) who likely live here out of necessity rather than choice

This is what black scientists (in particular field biologists) are talking about (cc: @1blackbirder @DNLee5). This is an extreme example of how doing the work to protect the environment is dangerous and mentally/emotionally costly

White allyship (in and outside of science) is not just creating internships for black kids. It is dismantling systemic and violent racism in America (& the world). I want to study bear hibernation with the ease of my white colleagues. I want to bring my dad along without fear

I intend to do an awesome job in tv tomorrow explaining the intricacies of black bear hibernation while live in the forest where people like me are perishing. I intend to make it look easy, but guys it’s not. Making space for POC to excel in science is more work than you realize