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<div style="font-size: 14px;font-family: Archivo;">Hello all,<br><br>I
have subscribed to and contributed to this list-serve for a few decades,
and appreciate (almost) all of the knowledge that has been shared. Even
so, as a non-white person, I continue to struggle to feel a part of the
world that is represented here. This conversation doesn't help, but it
also probably shouldn't matter. The one thing all of us are powerless to
stop is change. And the change in this context is the demographics of
our region and nation and, reflected in a little bit of that, the
growing lack of appetite for eponymous names. I wish more people would
spend more time understanding these changes and what they mean and not
feel like evolution is the product of being "erased" or "canceled." We
all do things differently than those who came before us; most of the
time, we don't feel threatened by that difference and adapt.<br><br>From
my perspective, naming things and places after humans (well, mostly men
(and, well, mostly white men)) is so Western European. In many cultures
of color, including mine and particularly the Indigenous people of
these lands, things and places are named descriptively. What better way
to pass on our knowledge and love for birds and other components of
nature than to represent them in a many that is innately understood and
cause to scamper to web searches only to discover that someone's name
doesn't really contribute to the understanding of creatures, things, and
places?<br><br>The legion of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color in
the birding world is growing exponentially, here and across the country.
It's an unstoppable force and shouldn't be feared because we have birds
in common, among other things. It would be a shame to lack any
crossover between old and new -- to maintain separate circles of bird
lovers. The new will inevitably replace the old. Don't we want to
influence the future security of the creatures that we love by sharing
our knowledge and enthusiasm for them with people who are younger and
browner than us?<br><br>Yes, things will change (and likely need to)
before we're all gone. We will adapt, unless bitterness stops us. For a
portion of my life, one of the main busy roads in south Seattle, where I
grew up and still live, was called Empire Way. It's been Martin Luther
King Jr. Way since all the signs got changed by 1984. I've never felt
lost, then or now. It's only a name, after all. Let's hang on to things
more useful and meaningful.<br><br>Best,<br>Glenn Nelson,<br>Seattle<br></div>
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