(ThyBlackMan.com) Despite people’s best efforts, sports have always been political and will always be political. There is perhaps no better example of that than the Olympics, where countries send their best athletes to compete on an international stage and attempt to show their athletic superiority over their international counterparts. There is plenty of flag waving, national anthem playing, and political figures from across the world can easily be found viewing Olympic events in person.
Paris, France was the host for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games and there were plenty of moments on the field, court, and in the water that spoke for more than athletic results. There can always be lessons learned and derived from sports and this year’s Summer Olympics were no exception. Here are some of the top stories of the 2024 Summer Olympics with words of wisdom from legendary African revolutionaries that can be applied to that situation, event, or commentary:
-Basketball legend LeBron James and tennis star Coco Gauff represented Team USA as flag bearers at Paris Olympics. Both have excelled in their respective sports and have been outspoken and active over the years regarding issues of race affecting Black people in the U.S. A quote that sums up those two being Team USA flag bearers comes from Black Panther Party for Self-Defense founder Huey P. Newton, “Too many so-called leaders of the movement have been made into celebrities and their revolutionary fervour destroyed by mass media. The task is to transform society; only the people can do that – not heroes, not celebrities, not stars. A star’s place is in Hollywood; the revolutionary’s place is in the community with the people.”
–Congolese boxer Marcelat Sakobi makes gesture in reference to imperialist violence in the DRC. Following her Olympic boxing match in which she lost, Sakobi got emotional and started crying but then threw her hand across her mouth while pointing two fingers to her head, in a gesture that signifies that people are being killed in Democratic Republic of Congo. The DRC has long been looted by Western imperialists and their funded rebels to take the vast natural resources in its area. African revolutionary Malcolm X’s analysis of the Congo included, “This was mass murder in the Congo, of women and children and babies. But there was no outcry even from the white liberals, even from your friends.”
-U.S. black athletes throw shade at other African athletes. One of the surprises during the Olympics was the South Sudan men’s basketball team having a competitive game against the star-studded U.S. men’s basketball team. Former NBA player Gilbert Arenas had some very ignorant and xenophobic public messages about the close loss to South Sudan. Another example of a U.S. born athlete not realizing his African heritage, Baltimore Ravens football player Marlon Humphrey’s social media post criticizing U.S. gymnasts Simone Biles and Jordan Chiles deciding to show their respect by bowing to Brazil’s gold medalist, Rebeca Andrade at the medal podium. Like most Africans born in the U.S., propaganda keeps them from identifying with Africans on the continent and throughout the African diaspora. Pan-African leader and former president of Ghana Kwame Nkrumah said, “All people of African descent, whether they live in North or South America, the Caribbean, or in any part of the world are Africans and belong to the African nation.”
Staff Writer; Mark Hines