INTERVIEW : FLOCK TOGETHER
In any time of questioning there is undoubtedly a defined need to seek answers … when human resolve is tested and energy and patience are low in the reserve levels, there needs be to an avenue leading to collective healing and empathetic solutions … there is a need to aim for a light flickering at the end of a tunnel.
In the socially paralysed summer months of 2020, at the height of the passion yet confusion and fury thrown up by the visceral nature of the BLM movement, friends Ollie Olankepulin and Nadeem Perera stoked the home-fires and formed Flock Together - an ornithological brother and sisterhood for male and female people of colour - to provide a beacon for those who needed an outlet to breathe, think and heal and come out of the proverbial tunnel.
Ollie and Nadeem became accidental reverends and set up a church of sorts for the mind body and soul … the religion … birdwatching, the place of worship… wetlands and woodlands where a celebration of the magnificence of winged creatures and outdoor spaces would provide a safe space base to breathe and share via collective gatherings, providing healing for those who wanted a release from the suffocating omnipresent media onslaught regarding social politics and never ending bad news …
TNO head to a secret ornithological hot-spot to hide away with Ollie & Nadeem and talk about being a birder, binocular beats & wonderful wings and where to watch them /
TNO - For those who maybe unaware Flock Together is a democratic collective of people of colour, formed in the throes of the confusion and heat of the BLM movement - set up for those seeking to learn, and to find, in order to better navigate life - yet it is also a personal journey for each member to experience, would you say that is the case?
OO - Flock Together was set up because I've always wanted to set up a bird watching club but unfortunately never met anyone who shared my passion and more importantly who I could relate to. I've always used birding as a chance to gain perspective whether personally or professionally, it's where I can escape without the distraction of life. It so happened that I met Nadeem during a time where me and my community, the black community, needed more support than ever because of what we were seeing around the world following the George Floyd murder. The BLM movement had been gaining momentum for many years before this point so it's important we're clear that Flock Together wasn't a reaction to what was happening with the BLM movement. So as a bird watching club we also double up as a support club for all our members across many different pillars including mental health support, creative mentorship and genuine networking with our kinfolk.
NP - Flock Together is surely a personal journey for everyone involved; nobody lives the life of anyone else. We started this thing to help our people before we lose any more great minds to the insanity of modern society. Nature provides a plentiful portion of help for all who come to it with an honest and open mind.
Ornithology is for anyone and everyone, yet is regarded as a something of a yesteryear almost 70’s into the 80’s pastime or one that hasn’t transcended due to digital hegemony. Flock Together is modernising the premise of Birdwatching in that you are asking people to see beauty and experience mental clarity and consequently the ability to breathe - is this what you set out to do ?
NP - Totally. Ollie and I were in heavy discussion about how much birding had helped us respectively before any walk took place. We wanted to bring this totally free help to our community because we had acknowledged that we, as a whole, have been engineered to miss it.
OO - Absolutely, both myself and Nadeem have been afforded huge benefits from our experience with nature. It's these benefits we wanted to share with our community.
This is a quote from “H is for Hawk”, one of my favourite books by Helen Macdonald. “When you are learning how to do something, you do not have to worry about whether or not you are good at it. But when you have done something, have learned how to do it, you are not safe any more. Being an expert opens you up to judgement.” - DO YOU CONCUR ?
NP - I share the sentiment of this quote verily. Flock Together has been a super fun journey because I can now share an activity which I have enjoyed almost totally alone with hundreds of people but I would be a liar if I said there was no pressure to actually know things and be able to teach. I would still never claim to be an expert but I have seen that my years of doing this have paid off and i can produce an enjoyable bird walk for many people at a time.
OO - Ha this is a good quote and very interesting because I see Nadeem as an expert in this space (he hates me saying this) but me on the other hand, even after 7 years of birding I still see myself as a casual birder. It's this balancing act that has made Flock Together an attractive offering for newcomers to the activity.
Did you primarily set this up to enable those who sign up to heal and communicate cerebrally with others, discover kinship, purpose and also the ability to switch off and resign yourselves to nature and the beauty therein ?
OO - Yes absolutely, on top of that we also wanted to bring a new audience into the topic of conservation. We wanted to unlock the power, potential and creativity of a highly influential demographic. There's no pretending that this area is very very white and very old. Flock Together is here to innovate.
NP - I started Flock Together because I love birds. Nothing more. When Ollie brought the idea of the club to me, I was surprised I had missed the value of the birding I had done beyond just the birds. On the walks we see, almost immediately, just how much people needed a safe space and just how much potential to change a culture there is within the POC community. Ollie is a genius.
What are you learning as you progress further into the F.T journey and develop its culture ? Is it making you more aware of the societal need for the culture of community ?
NP - The main lesson for me is definitely one of visibility. We being who we are, give implied permission to others like us to join us in spaces where we feel not welcomed when we decide to take untold amounts of pictures in rural areas. Media representation plays a huge role in society.
OO - We are learning more and more everyday. The main learning has been how needed a group like this was. Which in turn forces us to ask the question of why a group like this didn't exist before. Understanding what community means in a post covid world is our current lesson.
Many people when suffocated by the oppression of life in the urban sprawl have turned to nature and made the effort to reach the expanses of green that surround us - what are you as two people and as a collective taking from the time you spend in the green pasture-esque back yards of Greater London ?
NP - The thing I have always taken from it and stress mostly on the walks is perspective. In the city, life is fast and this is tiring enough without the added pressure of realising that your work, even if equal in effort, may be worth less than your neighbour's. When identifying with the natural world, you are welcomed openly and no work is required of you. There is no pressure to be anything beyond what you already are.
OO - I recently set up a bird feeder on my terrace and that's been an incredible distraction. We're also doing lots of consultancy for city planning, an area I've always been interested in and never in my life thought I'd have a voice in. London is in an interesting phase and redevelopment being a dirty word has pushed us to seek innovative ways to bring nature into the city. There's been a mindset shift at the top or the gatekeepers no longer hold all the power they once did.
“Questions have been answered for sure but one answer usually brings two more questions.”
Has the Flock Together movement answered the questions you were asking personally of yourselves ? Are you finding solutions in the solice and comfort of others ?
NP - Questions have been answered for sure but one answer usually brings two more questions.
OO - Completely, the initial questions have been answered but we have huge ambitions and want to be a driver of change on a global scale.
What gives you the greatest pleasure when you gather and embark on your journeys of mystery & guided ornithology ?
NP - It is being able to share the world of birds with keen minds as well as make the activity more popular with East London kids.
OO - Spotting rare birds is always great but the best part of the walk for me is when we break for lunch. It's at this point the essence of Flock Together comes alive. We use this opportunity to share personal updates, listen to each other's achievements and be gifted with spoken word performances. It's always a very emotional moment and tears of joy are shed each walk. It's impossible to put into words how important and unique this experience is for people of colour.
As a kid my dad would take me birdwatching regularly - he was RSPB and I was YOC (young ornithologers club) - I remember being so proud receiving my first sew on patch and pin badge stating my membership - do you have plans to make a modern selection of merchandise exclusive to members to market the community & the cause ?
OO - Ha, we have big plans across all areas but I can't give too much away at this point. We love the idea of pins and badges. I was forced into cub scouts as a kid so being able to bring a modern take to those moments of validation is exciting.
NP - Without spilling the beans, this is an idea we had from the first or second walk.
“We're a flock not a rat race, we move forward as a collective.”
Looking at the momentum and positivity being advocated by the growth of F.T are you forming friendships as well as discussion and debate associates ?
NP - I am for sure making new friends as well as bumping into old ones through FT. What is also amazing is that members of the Flock often contribute to its strengthening.
OO - The networking has been incredible. We've given it some thought and found why it's been so positive is because usually when "networking" there's this level of competition surrounding it all but with FT we're here to support each other to the fullest. We're a flock not a rat race, we move forward as a collective.
A geographic discovery can also become and represent personal discovery - discuss ?
NP - New surroundings breed new ways of thinking. To register a new image in the brain is to burn a new pathway in your thought map.
OO - Being exposed to new wonder and awe unlocks new positive emotions connected to current feelings.
'Come together, as one' - great lyric - choral anthem - rule for life - would you agree and why is it vital that WE move as ONE ?
NP - We should move as one because we are already one.
OO - When we have a common goal we utilise all the tools in the draw.
Give us 3 tracks each that soundtracks the purpose and ethos of Flock Together …
NP - Black Boys - Bashy, Shoot Me Down - Lil Wayne, No Easy Way Out - Robert Tepper
OO - Three Six Mafia - "Stay Fly", hip hop at its finest. Birdman ft Clipse - "What happened to that boy", more pure hip hop
Favorite winged beast ?
NP - Honestly, I have no clear cut favourite. I enjoy all of them a great deal. However I enjoy watching the corvids (crow family) more than all others because they are usually comfortable in human presence and often exhibit behaviours only possible by use of great intelligence.
OO - Mine is the Barn Owl for many reasons but flying in absolute silence and being fortunate to experience this under the moonlight is one of my top bird experiences.
These gentlemen may often be found in a hide.. but they aren’t hiding! This movement is in flight…
