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Section One: The Fundamentals
A) Keywords
Exercise 1:
Briefly (in 100 words or less) define one of the keywords in the padlet (including one that you. may have added yourself).
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The term Misogynoir combines two separate but very intersecting identities and their discriminations together. This term refers to the unique and challenging experience of Black women who face both misogyny and racism simultaneously. Black women experience compounded forms of discrimination where their gender and race intersect. While all women face misogyny, Black women endure racial profiling, discrimination, and stereotypes alongside the basic elements of misogyny. This intersectional oppression affects opportunities and increases struggles.
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B) Representing Race
Exercise 2: Notebook Prompt
In about 50-70 words, consider Joel Bervell’s question: why do we feel the need to extrapolate the athleticism of one Black athlete to all Black people when we do not do the same for white athletes?
Try to think of examples when this happens, making sure to reflect on your own positionality.
| I thoroughly appreciate Joel’s very eloquent commentary, questioning why the division of athletes, specifically Black athletes, occurs. Joel asks why people attribute one Black persons individual abilities to every Black person. I appreciate how he used Micheal Phelps wing span as an example, because we do not see many – if any – people using this in arguement against ALL white athletes. As a Caucasian individual, I realize how these narratives erase individuality and perpetuate harmful, stigmatized ideas about race and ability. This conversation also applies to a lot of other types of athletes which I thoroughly appreciate.
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C) Gender, Race & Sport
Exercise 3: Notebook Prompt
What are some strategies for resistance that Rajack and Joseph identify in their article as a means of pushing back against and resisting misogynoir?
| I really found this reading to be interesting. Particularly for the first resistance strategy I will identify, self representation. Naomi Osaka uses technology and social media to embrace, cultivate, and inspire. Moreover, she disrupts mainstream media’s erasure, flawed representation, and narratives that simplify or distort her, or Black, identity. I think I connected to this reading especially since it highlighted that social media platforms do have potential to provide spaces for communities to challenge hateful rhetorics, specifically Misogynoir and colourism in sports and sports media. Social media provides opportunity to develop counter narratives and encourage collective response
After 2018 US open victory, Razack and Joseph (2020) argue that the mainstream media downplayed Osaka’s Haitian roots while emphasizing her Japanese roots, reinforcing racial biases surround her and her sport. Therefore, Social media acts as a more personalized ( in the sense it is semi-self curated) outlet and ability to share only what represents your true identity.
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Section Two: Making Connections
A) Athlete Activism
Exercise 3: Padlet Prompt
Do athletes have a responsibility to use their platform for social change? Why or why not? Please remember to record your response in both the padlet below and in your Notebook.
I, like many of my peers among reading other pallets, find this a tricky question to answer. While I believe athletes to an extent do not have the responsibility to use their platforms for social change, they very well could have joined the sport feeling that there primary role as an athlete was to compete and nothing more, I do believe that it is a very important to feel a sense of responsibility because meaningful action happens when those with influence use their voices. With power and visibility comes the power to target multiple people and shed light on injustices, challenge systemic issues, and inspire change. Athletes, whether intending to or not, serve as valued role models within society and their words and actions just as any other celebrity or infamous person do shape public discourse every single day. While no one should be coerced and forced into activism, I do believe you should be doing things for the right reasons, recognizing the privledge of having a platform means understanding the impact and change it can have. I appreciate athletes like Noami Osaka demonstrate this type of activism with social media as it inspires hope and change within society many people.
B) Athlete Activism & Feminism
Exercise 4: Complete the activities
Exercise 5: Notebook Prompt
What do the authors of the article call for as a way of challenging how mainstream sports journalism privileges neoliberal feminist concerns? (100 words max.)
| Authors, Cooky and Antunovic (2020) call for sports media scholars to tell different stories and disrupt dominant narratives; Narratives that privledge neoliberal feminism and male athlete activism. Essentially, the authors argue that media should expand their definitions of traditional sports media and look beyond typical outlets. Moreover, they must amplify the activism of women athletes, particularly racialized athletes. This paradigm challenges gendered hierarchies within sports journalism and breaks boundaries that introduce new forms of media that transform feminist narratives in a modern neoliberal era.
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C) Corporate social justice
Exercise 6: Padlet Poll
| Khabarovsk (2021)’s article constrasts how the NBA and NFL responded to athlete activism, specifically regarding BLM. I found it interesting to see the stark difference. While the NBA encouraged activism, supporting protests, promoting justice, and collaborating with players, the NFL initially silenced and belittled protests, blackballing their athlete Kaepernick. I feel that the NFL’s approach failed to encourage unison and resilience whereas the NBA’s structure did. I feel that it depends on the sports league, but sadly most did hold especially back in 2020-2021 as I feel the leagues did not want to get “too political” and decrease viewership ( it is all capitalistic drive).
In favour: I believe just as I did with sports athletes, that sports leagues have the responsibility ( especially more so than individual athletes ) to represent activism in regards to BLM but also other social justice movements as well. This connects to the half time show of Kendrick Lamar for this past Super Bowl. On the field a dancer was holding up the Palestine flag but got take off the field and the flag was not televised. I feel that sports leagues with their vast outreach and large impact have a great responsibility to represent activism on an amplified stage In favour: I believe just as I did with sports athletes, that sports leagues have the responsibility ( especially more so than individual athletes ) to represent activism in regards to BLM but also other social justice movements as well. This connects to the half time show of Kendrick Lamar for this past Super Bowl. On the field a dancer was holding up the Palestine flag but got take off the field and the flag was not televised. I feel that sports leagues with their vast outreach and large impact have a great responsibility to represent activism on an amplified stage
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Section Three: Taking a shot
Module Assignment (submit as part of notebook and separately through Blackboard mini assignment #1 portal)
Hoops and Resistance: Race, Culture, Identity, Athleticism, and Activism in, Rise, of the Antetokounmpo Family
In the powerful, poignant, and inspirational story of the Antetokounmpo family, an undocumented household of brothers born in Greece; Thanasis, Giannis, Kostas, Alex, and parents Charles and Veronica who immigrated from Nigeria, the family demonstrate sacrifice and perseverance in athleticism, but also a story of hope. In the movie, RISE, it is shown that despite various hardships that came attached to living in poverty, facing quite harsh racial discrimination, and immigration challenges, the Antetokounmpo’s unbreakable bond and relentless dedication amidst struggle allowed them to rise above adversity and share a valuable lesson in determination (RISE, 2022). Through their resilience and unity, the Antetokounmpo brothers not only exemplify a beautiful story about the power of family, but also grit and unwavering goals in the face of discrimination. RISE (2022) emphasized that success is not just about individual triumphs but more importantly about a collective perseverance to rise above discrimination.
One of my favourite parts of this movie, among many other tear-jerking moments, was the moment Charles, the father, declares, “They will know our name.” This simple yet profound sentence amidst waves of hurt being inflicted upon the Antetokounmpo family powerfully manifests reality and illustrates the power of identity, culture, and family in their success story. In their early days as undocumented immigrants in Greece they, like many other racialized people, often experienced the challenge of having to explain and correct the pronunciation of their names which is a subtle reflection of how identity is often distorted when unfamiliar or in in hostile environments. The act of repetitive explanation is an act of kindness in response micro-aggressive questions and comments. Throughout the movie the family experiences several micro-aggressions and even blatantly racist comments. For example, Giannis is told by a peer, “Blackie, you suck!”, to which he later questioned, asking, “why do they hate us so much?” (RISE, 2022).
The Antetokounmpo family, their movie RISE (2022), and the text “Shut up and dribble!”? Athletes activism in the age of twitter sphere: The Case of LeBron James, share very significant thematic overlap with each other and not just because of basketball. Both stories highlight the use of sport and platforms for advocacy and change in terms of racial discrimination, inequalities, and political polarization (Galily, 2019). In the case of the Antetokounmpo family and their rise from poverty to global success underscores a larger narrative about the fight against systemic barriers and adverse conditions. Their movie, along with their families foundation in honour of their father, the Charles Antetokounmpo Family Foundation, which supports and inspires programs in Nigeria and Greece for families like them to achieve their dreams, exemplify how athletes can influence the collective consciousness and social commentary much like LeBron does with his athlete activism (Galily, 2019). I believe that the Antetokounmpo family broke an online echo chamber (Galily, 2019) by using their visibility and making not only a helpful organization but also an inspirational movie than disrupts prevailing narratives and sugar-coated issues. While there brothers story is not so connected to social media, as is LeBron’s, they have very similarly impacted media and shared their journey creatively to a different pocket of social media. By sharing their story on Disney Plus, they have used their platform to inspire communities and spark conversations about race, immigration, and the pursuit of dreams despite systemic challenges.
