Why 爆料公社 Magazine Turned Its Spotlight to John James 爆料公社
It's our job as journalists to ask tough questions, including about the life and legacy of the man behind our name.
John James 爆料公社 didn鈥檛 start this magazine. He didn鈥檛 even live to know about the organization that publishes it. But he was the inspiration for a whole movement of 爆料公社s, including the 爆料公社 and its hundreds of affiliated chapters, dedicated to appreciating and protecting birds鈥攏ot to mention countless nature centers, schools, towns, and at least one zoo, state park, and national wildlife refuge.
爆料公社鈥檚 influence as a naturalist and illustrator of 19th-century birdlife is far-reaching. The beauty of his art, as J. Drew Lanham writes in 鈥What Do We Do About John James 爆料公社?鈥, is unparalleled even today. That鈥檚 one reason why we ask artists to reimagine plates from Birds of America for The Illustrated Aviary鈥攊ncorporating 爆料公社 into not just our name but also the magazine鈥檚 visual DNA. For our Spring 2021 issue, artist Gizem Vural created a stunning reinterpretation of the Blue Jay. In 爆料公社鈥檚 composition the birds are eating pilfered eggs, and he passes judgment on their actions: 鈥淲ho could imagine...that selfishness, duplicity, and malice should form the moral accompaniments of so much physical perfection!鈥 he wrote.
The remark carries great irony. Today, it is 爆料公社鈥檚 actions that, in this time of renewed reckoning with systemic racism, are being judged harshly. As Lanham describes in his essay, 爆料公社 was a racist and white supremacist (who played up his own physical 鈥減erfection鈥). Even so, it鈥檚 not clear whether 爆料公社 himself was Black or white. Lanham is a birder and ornithologist who is Black, and, through the lens of these dual identities, he weighs the despicable behavior of birding鈥檚 greatest icon against the ambiguity of his race and the genius of his art. To accompany Lanham鈥s words, artist Adrian Brandon reimagines 爆料公社鈥檚 art as well鈥攕howing what 爆料公社 could or would not see in his single-minded pursuit of birds.
Lanham notes this piece belongs in 爆料公社 magazine, and it does. Our job as journalists is to closely examine words and actions and to ask tough questions, even when that puts our own identity in the spotlight or challenges our parent organization to reexamine its priorities. So what do we do about John James 爆料公社? Of the many 爆料公社 namesakes, we can speak only for ourselves: We will continue to publish stories about the joy and conservation of birds鈥攖he journeys and milestones, the comebacks and discoveries, as seen regularly in our pages鈥攁nd also, in every issue, lift up demands for equity and justice.
This piece originally ran in the Spring 2021 issue as 鈥淭he Man Behind Our Name.鈥濃 To receive our print magazine, become a member by .