Civil rights groups have called on Black college athletes to boycott schools in states that are rolling back voting rights. But highly paid NIL-era athletes are proving to be unwilling protesters. Why it matters: It's exposing a disconnect between advocates who rely on 1960s-style protest tactics, and prominent athletes in today's $3 billion NIL economy who have different views of activism — and who are unwilling to sacrifice unprecedented financial opportunities . The big picture: NIL (name, image, likeness) was championed as a tool to end the systemic exploitation of Black college athletes in big-revenue sports. - Irony has taken hold: Those NIL funds can now shield southern institutions from some political pressure, even as state…
Black Democrats on Capitol Hill are amplifying their calls for Black athletes to boycott state universities in the South, saying those schools have done nothing to fight the Republican gerrymandering that’s led to the elimination of majority-minority districts. Led by the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), the lawmakers are joining the NAACP and other advocacy groups in advising Black athletes to seek other schools until the universities in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) — a powerhouse of college sports — come out publicly against the GOP’s redistricting campaign. #NAACP #CongressionalBlackCaucus #Democrats #SEC #CollegeAthletics #CollegeFootball #SoutheasternConference #Redistricting
Who says serious athletes are always serious? Akwasi Frimpong, who's competed for Ghana, is a world-class wisecracker as he reflects on being a Black African athlete in the white world of winter sports.
Laila Edwards, the first Black female hockey player to represent the U.S. at the Olympics, is bringing her whole team to Milan — thanks in part to the Kelce brothers.
