 |
| Source:news.sky.com |
The Premier League made a return
yesterday and whilst many fans were excited to see the sport return to screens there
was considerable attention placed on other aspects of the match.
As I watched the nation’s reactions
to the ‘Black Lives Matter’ written on the players jerseys, the moment of
silence, and the blue NHS across players’ chests, I realised just how central
activism has become to each of our lives.
Now let’s not forget that there has
been a long history between athletes and activism; Colin Kapernick’s decision to
kneel during the national anthem as a protest against police brutality; Kareem
Abdul-Jabbar’s protests after the assassination of Martin Luther King; Venus Williams’
impact in equal pay for women players in tennis. To extend that list one could
mention the names, Muhammad Ali, LeBron James, or Tommie Smith and John Carlos
and there are clear examples of changes that they have influenced.
Its not hard to go back through history
and discover that sports protesting runs deep especially within American sports,
whether the protests be about race, pay, gender or nationality - sports has always
had a place for activism.
Yet few of these examples come from the
UK. Does this contribute to the narrative that the UK likes to appear as a non-racist
country? Would openly protesting in ways that American athletes have hold up a
mirror and reveal a reflection that the UK does not want to see?
2020 has definitely been a year like
no other. We have endured an unprecedented global pandemic and been witness to
one of the biggest civil movements in history, one in which many of us have
been active participants. And it is this combination of these two events which
has produced a response like no other.
What is being brought to the forefront
of every family home and every company building is the reality of human vulnerability.
Never before have I seen my Twitter feed full of petitions from those supporting
the Black Lives Matter movement to petitions in support of the Yemen crisis. It
seems that the affects of such deep world crises have truly been education and action,
often on a small level, but nonetheless a level much higher than I have ever
witnessed.
Seeing those players take a kneel
yesterday and finally acknowledge a problem that does not only exist in America
but in every culture and country seemed like a real turning point especially
for the UK and its problems with racism. From the actions of these players, to
call to actions created by social media influencers like Jackie Aina, 2020 has
seen millions of people find the activist in them.
I mentioned the reality of human
vulnerability and I really do believe that this is the year in which people
have finally been able to separate politics, and human vulnerability. Of course,
the outcomes of the movements, petitions and protests are to create law reforms
and influence changes in politics and state rulings, but this renewed wave of a
stronger involvement from people who aren’t MPs or aren’t State Governors, has
truly revealed that change doesn’t just come from a few people in suits and
ties, it come from us, the real people.
“I don’t claim to have the education of an MP in parliament, but I do have a social education”, Marcus Rashford 2020.
Thank you for reading!
Aman
