By By Jesse Spector — 2020
One of the best hitters in baseball in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the main reason that Dick Allen isn’t in the Hall of Fame is institutional racism.
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CLEAR ALL
Osaka’s mental health challenges are nothing new in her isolating sport. What is new is the acceptance she’ll face—and the paths back—if she takes a prolonged break.
In the past few weeks, my journey took an unexpected path but one that has taught me so much and helped me grow. I learned a couple of key lessons.
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Through the size of her platform, however, and her decision to choose well-being over pursuit of a Grand Slam title, Osaka offers the promise of bringing mental health awareness—both inside and outside of sports—to an entirely new level.
She looked for all the world like a woman who could not be cowed. And then just when her many detractors thought she was out for good, she pulled herself back in.
The cultural messages can be harsh, dehumanizing and constant
The black lesbian feminist writer and poet, who died 25 years ago, is better known than ever, her words often quoted in books and on social media.
Racism. The belief in the inherent superiority of one race over all others and thereby the right to dominance, manifest and implied.
There is this thing that happens, all too often, when a Black woman is being introduced in a professional setting. Her accomplishments tend to be diminished. The introducer might laugh awkwardly, rushing through whatever impoverished remarks they have prepared.
Until the marches, “pussy” was treated like a four-letter dirty word. What followed, as women responded to the crass reference to them as a body part, became an enantiodromia—a derogatory and shameful word became transformed into its opposite.