(ThyBlackMan.com) One of the major stories of 2022 that has made global headlines is the death of Elizabeth II, at 96 years old after seven decades of ruling England. There were several sporting events in Britain that were called off following her death and her funeral drew millions and millions of viewers across the world as it was broadcast on several major TV networks. It would be a mistake to believe that her death was mourned by nearly everyone though. Social media was full of people who mourned Elizabeth II’s death and those who pointed out a lot of hypocrisy of her British monarchy and the British empire she came from. In some social media circles, it was like a battle over how history should be framed as it relates to Elizabeth II and her death. Of course, British sporting events have long resumed and Great Britain made some history of its own as the Great Britain national team will play in the World Baseball Classic for the very first time after their 10-9 qualifying round victory over Spain.
The World Baseball Classic will take place in 2023 and is an international baseball tournament sanctioned by the World Baseball Softball Confederation in partnership with Major League Baseball. It is not the Olympics in terms of popularity, history, or national pride but it is notable as an example for one of the most well-known sports in the world, baseball. Great Britain’s first World Baseball Classic team will feature a notable MLB All-Star in Miami Marlins infielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. He was rewarded for his play and recognized for his popularity by being voted as the starting second baseman for the NL in the All-Star Game and was a first-time All-Star. Chisholm Jr. didn’t play in the game due to injuries that prevented him from playing the rest of the 2022 MLB season but he did recently commit to play in the 2023 World Baseball Classic for Great Britain.
Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s commitment to playing for Great Britain in the World Baseball Classic is only surprising because he was born in The Bahamas and is eligible to feature for Great Britain since it was a former British colony. Chisholm Jr., did play for Great Britain in 2017 at the young age of 19 years old but you would think five years later that he would be more well-versed of what British colonialism did to the Bahamas and his people. It was the successive British governments under the direct tutelage of their despotic monarchy that have presided over the mass murder of millions across Africa, Asia, Australia and the Americas, destroying and looting cultural monuments and art effects, robbing those territories of trillions in economic value, resulting in the Global South wallowing in poverty under the yoke of terrible and illegitimate debt and despotic satellite regimes.
Chisholm Jr. would be wise to read the book, Capitalism and Slavery, by Eric Williams. The anti-colonial book written by Williams, who was the first Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, is a major work in the field and was so influential and important that 2022 marked the first time it was published in Britain by a mainstream British publisher although the book was first published in 1938. The recent conversations around banned books should include Capitalism and Slavery and it would open the eyes of Jazz Chisholm Jr. about aligning himself with British colonialism in any way.
Staff Writer; Mark Hines