From the moment Colin Kaepernick sat down, the question came: why don't you write about this? I don't take this question for granted -- it is one that I have gotten consistently since before my book about the black power action at the Mexico City Olympic Games by American sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos came out.
But at this point, I wonder if I have anything left to say?
Over the years, I have written about Steve Nash wearing anti-war shirts and team reactions in Arizona to stringent immigrant laws. I have written about college football players who want to take a stance on campus racism and Olympic athletes who wear black armbands to protest violence in their country. I have written about others -- not athletes -- who raise clenched fists. I have written about Trump's election and athletes' reaction. I have written on the greatest athlete of a generation, and the lack of respect she faces on and off the court. And on and on and on (how many hotlinks can I string together in one paragraph?)
Listen to athletes for a change.
But I hope the question keeps coming -- why don't you write about this? Because it means athletes are making waves, getting people to sit up and take notice of their agendas as people, not just as players. Because when an athlete steps onto the pitch, the court, or the field, he or she doesn't stop thinking about the things that are important to them.
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