When I started watching hockey, I adopted my favorite player’s number as my own, and Anze Kopitar’s #11 remained plastered to my back for nearly a decade.Īt first glance, these men, for all of their skills on the field, did little to change my young mind off of it, which certainly is due largely in part to the media and the primarily conservative institutions that major sports leagues have become. I tried to hit home runs, make slick plays, and steal bases like my heroes. In these idols, I found on-field inspiration. When I started pitching, I channeled Kenley Jansen and Craig Kimbrel, two up-and-coming closers of the day now entering the twilights of their MLB careers. ![]() Playing primarily baseball as a kid, I modeled my swing after MLB superstar Barry Bonds, my fielding after Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Rafael Furcal, and my baserunning after veteran Juan Pierre, another Dodger of the early 2000s. In this new sports universe, with increased visibility and economic interest, what do the athletes of today teach us? And what values do these role models represent? ![]() Jordan, Tiger Woods, LeBron James, all of these athletes and many more can be recognized and are adored across hundreds of countries thanks to the rise of mass social media.īut while the sports world has provided a site of economic uplift for a few, it has coincided with the deepening inequality and globalized capitalism that plagues our society today. In the decades since Abu-Jamal’s youth, money has become far more intertwined with sports, and at the same time, athletes have become even more pervasive and globalized. He was The Greatest, and at a young age, Abu-Jamal latched on to him from a distance, not as much for his athletic prowess but for his actualization of a ‘man of the people’ persona and his bold political stances. But during his political heyday, he was there in the streets, protesting and throwing away monetary gain for lasting and impactful fame. ![]() Much like Michael Jordan, his athletic prowess and pervasiveness were turned into corporate profit and public relations fodder later in his life. The Ali of today has been stripped of much of his historical luster, largely in the name of commercialization and blind patriotism. In the 1960s, as Abu-Jamal dove more fully into activism, the young man did idolize one athlete: Muhammad Ali. Though still skeptical of sports, he understood their power and pervasiveness in our society, especially in creating role models for children and teenagers. And like his idol, the man known as the “Voice for the Voiceless” saw sports as “a diversion from the real struggle.”īut by 2007, Abu-Jamal had softened that stance. Sure, Abu-Jamal had idols growing up, but instead of Willie Mays or Henry Aaron, he idolized Noam Chomsky. ![]() That’s the question that former Black Panther member and politically active prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal left readers with in his interview with activist sports writer Dave Zirin back in 2007 for Zirin’s book, “Welcome to the Terrordome: The Pain, Politics, and Promise of Sports.”Ību-Jamal, an impactful activist despite decades of incarceration, mentioned himself that he did not fit in cleanly to the archetype of the mid-century American teenage boy. “Athletes are role models… what do they teach us?”
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