Nate Wallace, creator and co-host of the podcast Redspin Sports, joins "Political Misfits" to discuss everything we ought to know about paying college athletes, protesting at the Olympics and elsewhere, and the pandemic's impact on youth sports & mental health -particularly the struggles facing US society's most vulnerable students.
"Political Misfits" co-host Michelle Witte hosted Nate on Radio Sputnik's Washington, DC based radio program & podcast "Political Misfits" on Wednesday, December 23rd, 2020.
Michelle & Nate discuss the US Olympic Committee's (USPOC) continued repression of free speech and political expression rights of US athletes in the wake of US Track & Field star hammer thrower, Gwen Berry's plight, after she raised the same black power solidarity fist as 1968 Olympians Tommie Smith and John Carlos, and like them is facing similar backlash now more than 50 years later.
They also discuss the Supreme Court's upcoming ruling on the question of NCAA "student-athletes" (aka unpaid athletic laborers) right to profit off of their own Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL), and why despite NIL being long overdue, it still leaves the issue of direct compensation for athletic labor off the table.
Other topics discussed include the dubious Cold War legacy that contextualizes the "patriotism" police's punishment of Gwen Berry, and so many other US Olympians and US athletes across the board. Gender's role in how the public reacts to athletes expressing political dissent is explored in light of Berry's experience, and why the heroic activism of WNBA players offers hope for a more equitable future.
Checkout this article to learn more about Gwen Berry's plight and the circumstances that precipitated it.
https://sports.yahoo.com/gwen-berry-olympics-usoc-racism-protest-072143215.html
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