While the world was unraveling in May of 2020, in the midst of the pandemic and a global uprising of anti-racism sparked by the murder of George Floyd — Christian Cooper tried to seek solace in his lifelong hobby of bird-watching. Cooper’s life would forever change on the morning of May 25, 2020 — where an entitled white woman, Amy Cooper (no relation to Christian), accosted this black man in Central Park and filed a false police report on him, ironically taking place on the same day of Floyd’s murder in Minneapolis.
The racially charged incident led to Amy Cooper being (in my opinion rightfully) terminated by her employer and facing criminal charges — which were later dismissed in February 2021 (shocking). But it also lead to Amy being labeled as the Central Park “Karen”, a racist nickname that again, in my opinion suits her well.
But for Christian Cooper (59), there was a light at the end of this racist tunnel. The incident garnered national attention, which allowed several people to take notice of his love for bird-watching, which Cooper says began at the age of 10. Cooper landed a life changing gig, as National Geographic announced that he will host a series for the channel called Extraordinary Birder. The series will see Cooper take viewers into the “wild, wonderful and unpredictable world of birds.”
In an interview with The New York Times, Cooper said that he “was all in”, mainly because he loves “spreading the gospel of birding.”
Cooper was the co-chair of the board of directors of GLAAD in the 1980s. He was also Marvel’s first openly gay writer and editor. He introduced the first gay male character in Star Trek, “Yoshi Mishima” and the first lesbian character for Marvel as well, “Victoria Montesi”.
I’m glad that there was a silver lining to this racially-dense cloud for Christian. To be able to get paid for something that has been a lifelong hobby and love of his is simply incredible. And am I the only one that thinks Christian is zaddy material? Handsome with a chiseled jawline, an athletic build and he’s Harvard educated. Whew chyle, that’s a zaddy if I’ve ever seen one. I see you Mr. Cooper.
National Geographic has yet to announce a premiere date for Extraordinary Birder.
Source: NPR , Wikipedia , The New York Times
I can’t wait to see this! I hope it does well, he seems like a great guy. Nice to see another gay host of a show btw.