SPORT ACTIVISM
This blog seeks to present ideas that promote critical thinking about how sport is situated in our lives.
Thursday, December 7, 2023
The Myth and Reality of the Absentee Black Father: A Critical Examination
Friday, January 6, 2023
Deion Sanders and Our Messiah Fixation
The plague and persistence of oppression within Black communities have made it convenient and consistent for us to perceive the need for salvation and a savior, thus, a preoccupation on a messiah. Throughout our sojourn on this continent, we have witnessed the rise and fall of many. Some have been self-appointed and some community anointed, but all serving our fixation and a few fighting for our liberation. Through educational, religious, judicial, or political institutions, the goals have been deliverance from the progenies of white supremacy into the promised land of peaceful coexistence. For example, during slavery, Nat Turner’s slave revolt cast him as a revolutionary messiah who took up the yoke of Christ to fight against the serpent. Another form of salvation came from the emancipation proclamation (Proclamation 95), a presidential proclamation by President Abraham Lincoln (savior) that freed all enslaved people. Another example of salvation came from the savior Marcus Garvey for many, and his plan of salvation was Black nationalism, economic independence, and a return to the Motherland. What about our intellectual savior, W.E.B DuBois, and his gospel of the Talented Tenth? Or maybe, our pragmatic savior in Booker T. Washington and his messianic messages of self-help, hard work, and accumulation of material wealth. Or, it was seen in the savior, Reverend Dr. Martin L. King, and the legal activism of the Civil Rights Movement and an appeal to the oppressors’ morality as our salvation. Another example can be seen with savior Minister Malcolm X and Islam being our salvation. A final example is former President Barack Obama, who symbolically empowered and mesmerized many with his messianic message of hope. This list is abbreviated, but my point should be evident, and that is we (the Black community collective) have had our share of messiah-types, thus, rendering many within our communities to continue on the journey in search of a messiah to deliver us from the oppressive regime of white supremacy.
Now we have the revolutionary athletic personality and icon, Coach Deion Sanders. His entry into college football began as Jackson State University’s (JSU) head football coach. Given the context and current configuration of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), his presence, although on a smaller scale relative to the aforementioned messianic leaders, was just as significant. His iconic and charismatic personality created an atmosphere of restoration and hope. The attention he garnered for JSU and HBCUs collectively, and specifically, the city of Jackson during a water contamination crisis was tactical in providing small-scale social change, where many people took notice, and some responded positively. Thus, his social capital and persona were a momentary saving grace to dire conditions that often erupt in neglected communities and Black institutions suffering from political deprivation.
Though he does not have the pedigree of an HBCU, he is a product of a Black community, which makes him eligible with some credentials to function in this space. More importantly, he had a word from God that ordained his presence at JSU. This ordination carries a lot of weight in a community that values God’s word and the sanctity of the ones sent by Him. Couple this charge from the Almighty with two years of unprecedented success (i.e., two consecutive SWAC championships), I believe, placed Sanders in an exalted position. With this position comes enormous pressure to deliver and bring deliverance. It harnesses tremendous praise and adoration when successful, but woe be unto him who does not deliver and fails to bring deliverance; or decides to alter the plan of God for personal gain. Clearly, I am strictly speaking from the religious fervor surrounding those with a messiah complex and those who have a fixation on needing a messiah.
Did Coach Sanders hear from God? He could have. But which God? Could God have given him a new assignment – to go to Colorado? Sure. I would never put myself in a position to judge whether a person is divinely orchestrated to fulfill a specific task unless it is a total contradiction to the nature of love and life. Therefore, I have no problem with Coach Sander's “new” assignment leading the University of Colorado Buffaloes. It reaffirms for me how our messiah fixation causes many to harbor anger, display disappointment, and vent hostile criticism and a human being making a human decision. It exposes our misplaced fears and displaced faith. So, release Primetime from your negative criticism and let him expand his coaching brand and experience. Perhaps he will be better able to deliver and bring deliverance to some without having to deal with misgivings and displaced frustrations. Regardless, let us continue to be critical of self-appointed messianic figures at all levels. Let us be critical when our collective desires within Black communities or others external to our communities (white nationalist ideological state apparatuses, e.g., media, education, education) create these figures to distract us from genuinely developing the revolutionary consciousness necessary for our evolution and the evolution of our institutions. Also, let us either realize that charismatic leaders/savior types come and go or let us face the fact that the true saviors are ourselves. Our collective consciousness should be clear that we are the messiahs we have been looking for, hoping in, and praying to for our deliverance.
Wednesday, July 14, 2021
Name, Image, and Likeness Legislation: Progress Toward Emancipation in College Athletics for Some Black Athletes
Emancipation Proclamation has not been fully realized and actualized for the Blacks collectively. Yes, there has been the abolishment of the institution of slavery, but equal and equitable access to the American Dream has not been the collective lived experience of the descendants of enslaved Africans on U.S. soil. There have been strives made toward racial progress, where some semblance of equity and equality have been experienced by a small percentage of Blacks in the U.S. The combination of hard work, education, legislation, and persistence has afforded opportunities to some, but the collective Black population has yet to be fully emancipated from a system of white supremacy that consistently views it as inferior, a political nuisance, and an exploitable cog in a system of capitalism.
Various institutions in the U.S. have accumulated wealth at the expense of the Black body. For example, E. N. Elliott, an advocate for slavery, in Cotton Is King, makes an interesting, although inaccurate comment regarding the status of slaves and their labor. He states that, “The person of the slave is not property, no matter what the fictions of the law may say; but the right to his labor is property and may be transferred like any other property.” It is inaccurate because the enslaved were both property and their labor were property. Therefore, the benefit of slavery was at least twofold: profitable to the slave trader and the plantation owner, who often was the same person. This two-fold gain of slavery created a multi-billion dollar wealth transfer that many corporations, universities, and other institutions are reaping benefits in the 21st century.
In my use of the plantation analogy, I see this comment as an accurate assessment of the modern-day Black athlete competing in revenue-generating intercollegiate sports before the name, image, and likeness (NIL) legislation. They are not necessarily the property of the institutions they compete at, but their athletic labor is the property and profitable to the university, and up until now, their name, image, and likeness were properties of the university and profitable to these institutions. To speak more clearly, it is the athletic labor of Black males in football and basketball that undergird a multi-billion dollar industry. They make up the highest percentage of starters that compete the majority of minutes during these ultra-commercialized events. Corporations compete financially to have their products interwoven within this athletic product. The monetization of an athlete’s NIL has been a part of this wealth transfer where athletes did not own the rights to the athletic product their athletic labor produced, nor could they profit from the use of their NIL.
Well, as of July 1, 2021, there has been progress toward emancipation where athletes have finally been given the rights to profit from their NIL. This move accelerated after several states passed some form of NIL legislation, which forced the National Collegiate Athletic Association to relinquish its economic stronghold over athletes, especially those in revenue-generating sports. Therefore, companies and corporations can now have individual athletes endorse their products. In the coming months, there will be growing pains to this new economic arrangement. Some athletes will be able to convert their athletic capital into lucrative opportunities, while others may not have the same advantages. Regardless, returning athletes’ rights to their NIL to the athlete is progress toward athletic emancipation. It moves out of 17th and 18th-century labor practices into a century where labor practices are not ideal but more palatable.
Wednesday, September 23, 2020
SPORT ACTIVISM: The First Step, White People, in Your Anti-racist ...
SPORT ACTIVISM: Anti-White Supremacy Agenda
SPORT ACTIVISM: I Am Beyond “THE DIALOGUE ON RACE"
I Am Beyond “THE DIALOGUE ON RACE"
I am beyond the dialogue on race,
Another knee on my neck,
more tear-gas in my face?
I’m in the streets now,
Marching, protesting, rioting,
burning down your symbols of death,
tearing down your generals of hate.
It’s a bit too late, too much hate, and too much rage in me;
Just can’t see how.
I am beyond the dialogue on race,
Must I plead another case?
Flee while being chased
I’m beyond the dialogue.
Giving you another chance to monologue;
Can’t take another sympathetic prologue;
Definitely not another protracted epilogue.
I am beyond the dialogue on race,
Besides, WTF is there to talk about anyway at this stage?
You know what the problem is,
YOU even know the answer,
YOU know what to say,
YOU know why I have so much rage.
The only thing I care to hear is the economic reparations, compensation for the exploitation –
For 246 years of unpaid labor during enslavement;
Over 90 years in a system of sharecropping.
Can we talk?
Do you really really, like for real, want to end institutional systems of oppression?
Do you really have the spirit of the slave abolitionist to undo yourselves from yourselves and your privilege?
If not, I’m beyond the dialogue on race,
Too late for the Blah di Blah Blah!
I’m done.
Di Blah, Blah!
Crispy
Di Blah, Blah!
I’m Out!
My Muse
I think “we,” a particular population of Black people, are in a different space than most non-Black people on the topic of race and racial injustices. I am not claiming this to be the consensus, but I am confident that with the recent occurrences of white-on-Black murders, dialogues are a bit too late, or should I say, a bit too passé. Since our sojourn in this country, we have been on-and-off in this discussion phase: pleading our case for freedom, for equity, for equality, for Civil Rights, for human rights, for breath, for life, etc.
Don’t get me wrong, having discussions about antiracism, diversity, and inclusion are helpful and necessary on some levels and for some groups. But, for me, I am beyond the dialogue on race – the conversation. Besides, what exactly is there to discuss further? We are being terrorized, choked, and gunned down on camera – by white supremacists with badges. Aren’t the protests, vandalism, the defamation of statues and symbols representing hate evidence enough to inform you that we are tired of talking about race. Why is it that every time a tragedy like George Floyd occurs, it sparks non-black people to want to have a dialogue on race? You suddenly feel moved to have a national debate on race, now that another white supremacist exposes his infection. What has the previous dialoguing produced? A few token concessions, cosmetic changes in the name of diversity and inclusion, or some amusements in the form of titles, programs, or holidays to quiet the masses. Has there been actual progress in disrupting and disbanding the power of white supremacy? No more dialogue is needed; just a diagnosis and a prescription – virus of white supremacy is the diagnosis, remove it by any means necessary is the prescription.
How long will this nation continue this pattern of watching black people die or tolerating other social injustices? How long will we get to the point where these injustices provoke anger and protest, sometimes riotously levels, and then, those in positions of power and influence decide it is time to have a dialogue on race or social injustices?
Listen, regarding the diagnosis, I am thoroughly convinced that in the case of racism, non-black people, white people specifically, know who and “where” the racist are; in any given context or space: in corporations, in educational institutions, or their subdivisions. They know which neighbor, friend, or family member is infected with the hate virus, which associate or partner is under the spell and delusion of white supremacy. You have been in conversations with them. They have been at your potlucks, dinner parties, and you shared a room with them at conferences or when you were on vacation. Sadly enough, most non-Black people know a Derek Chauvin, and most Black people know this about you. Thus, if we must begin a dialogue, although I am beyond “the dialogue,” let us start with you revealing the white supremacists among you and the infection within you. While I have your attention, let me insert the uncomfortable question into the conversation. Do you know what it means to be white and growing up in a time and “country” designed specifically for you? The world is your oyster is indeed an accurate description of what outsiders see of you. To add to this oyster experience, this privilege or racial endowment is ingrained in the psyche of non-black people and institutionalized in various ways of life; therefore, it has been perpetual for hundreds of years. Some have coined it whiteness, white privilege, etc., but to me, it is a virus or infectious disease that has contaminated millions from birth. Finally, may the spirit of abolitionism possess you into real protest and action to destroy white supremacy.
Billy Hawkins, Ph.D.