Episode 206: 2020/21 Olympics: So Many Questions, So Few Answers
Amira Rose Davis, Shireen Ahmed and Jessica Luther start the show with the most random thing they've seen at a sporting event. Then they discuss the latest on the Tokyo 2020/2021 Olympics. Will they happen?! If so, How?! They talk about Japan's low vaccination rate and overburdened medical system, the IOC offering the vaccine to competitors and how impossible it feels to determine fairness. Following the main segment, Amira teases her interview with Bianca Tylek, Founder and Executive Director of Worth Rises about national prison phone justice. Then sports' latest garbage gets torched on the Burn Pile. Next they lift up the people and projects shining brightly, including Torchbearer of the Week: 144, the documentary about last year's WNBA bubble, and Executive Producer Chiney Ogwumike. They wrap up the show with what's good in their lives and what sport they are watching this week.
This episode was produced by Tressa Versteeg. Shelby Weldon is our social media and website specialist. Burn It All Down is part of the Blue Wire podcast network.
Links
I.O.C. Offers Vaccine to All Tokyo Games Participants: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/06/sports/olympics/tokyo-olympics-vaccine.html
A Sports Event Shouldn’t Be a Superspreader. Cancel the Olympics https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/11/opinion/cancel-olympics.html
Naomi Osaka conflicted over holding the Tokyo Olympics: https://www.espn.com/olympics/story/_/id/31416008/naomi-osaka-conflicted-holding-tokyo-olympics
Japan nurses voice anger at call to volunteer for Tokyo Olympics amid Covid crisis: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/may/03/japan-nurses-voice-anger-at-call-to-volunteer-for-tokyo-olympics-amid-covid-crisis
With emergency extension for Tokyo area likely, Japan expands border control measures: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/03/04/national/border-control-measures-coronavirus
Serena Williams’s Olympic participation might depend on whether she can bring her daughter: https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2021/05/10/serena-williams-olympics
Japanese towns drop plans to host Olympic athletes: https://news.yahoo.com/japanese-towns-abandon-plans-host-021811145
The ban on Olympic protests only empowers the protesters: https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2021/04/25/ioc-rule-50-olympics
All-Black, all-female crew set as broadcasters for WNBA's Atlanta Dream telecasts: https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/wnba/dream/2021/05/14/atlanta-dream-broadcaster-tabitha-turner-2021-wnba-season/5093432001
Former BIAD guest Kiki Stokes coaches Jackrabbits to Summit League softball championship: https://brookingsregister.com/article/jackrabbits-win-summit-league-softball-title
Transcript
Amira: Welcome to Burn It All Down, the feminist sports podcast you need. I'm Amira, and this week I'm joined with Jessica and Shireen. We're going to be talking about the Olympics because, yes, there are still questions. Yes, it's allegedly still happening. Yes, it feels like there’s a lot going on there. We'll unpack it a bit and get into where we're at in terms of the Olympic Games.
Jessica: I can't establish in my mind what is fair here, and I think there's no answer, is the unsatisfying thing. I think it is unfair to Japan to hold these games, and I think it is unfair to a lot of these athletes.
Amira: Of course we're going to be burning some things and lifting up some Torchbearers who are lighting the way to a better sporting future. But before we dive into all of that, I have to tell you about my favorite video that I saw this past weekend in the midst of another Glazers Out protest that was much more tapered down this week. Before the Man U–Liverpool game there was many people on the ground, reporters talking about the buses arriving, and they're giving these live action shots. And there's this one shot that you have to go find where the buses are arriving and then in the midst of this two people riding a bike, one bike has like a basket, and in the basket is just this poodle and they all look absolutely bewildered by what they have just rolled into. It's the randomest video bombing appearance that I've ever seen. I'm just calling it Manchester poodle.
It made me chuckle, but it also made me think – what was the randomest thing you've ever seen in or around a sporting match? Because as soon as I saw that poodle, it made me think of that parrot at that Penn State women's soccer match. I don't know. I was like, is that a parrot? It was a parrot on a leash, who was the parrot of Jordan Canniff’s grandfather, who had driven this parrot from New York to State College on a leash to watch Jordan's game that she couldn't play in because she tore her ACL. So it was just there, observing, being an unofficial mascot. It was the randomest thing I've ever seen, like the poodle. It was also hilarious and kind of cute. So, I wanted to know if you guys had random things that came to mind.
Shireen: I loved this question so much. I loved when Amira put it in our WhatsApp group because I was obsessed with this parrot. But I ended up going down a rabbit hole – because you know that's how I do – and around a sporting match, one of the things I love are pitch invaders, whether they're humans or…I’m kind of not interested in the naked white men that seem to do that a lot, but I was really interested in the animals. Like, there's a compilation of squirrels and cats and then these professional footballers sending them going, “How do we pick up a squirrel?” Or a pigeon. Because the pigeons are like, really badass. Which is so funny because–
Amira: I just realized that you said pitch invaders. Because I really thought you said pigeon baiters.
Jessica: Yeah, me too.
Shireen: PITCH. INVADERS. Oh, okay! [laughter]
Jessica: I was like, who is baiting pigeons?!
Amira: Exactly! I was like, who does that?!
Jessica: Like, how did I miss this? Pitch invaders. Got it.
Shireen: Pitch invaders. Sorry. I just, I love all of that. I love how they struggle with picking up a pigeon because picking up a pigeon is a little more complicated than we think it is. But my favorite thing–
Amira: Unless you're a pigeon baiter.
Jessica: I think it seems very complicated. [laughs] I don't know what I would do to pick up a pigeon!
Shireen: I feel like we should do that next time we get together is try something…No, okay, I have ideas now. My favorite thing is watching, from a 2014 match, I believe it was a qualifier. It was Brazil playing South Africa and there was a little boy who ran on the pitch. He ran over and then you see, like, they're called the stewards who are monitoring the games and trying to prevent…And it's this little beautiful boy, who's probably around five or six years old and he wants to run towards Neymar Jr and he gets stopped and he's frightened because all these men are running at him. And so then Neymar goes over and he picks him up and then they get a photo and David Luiz is taking a photo of them. It's a happy thing. Like, he's a little kid who was star struck, and it's beautiful. And that's actually my favorite thing.
Amira: That's very cute. Jessica?
Jessica: Yeah. I had a hard time answering this. I just feel like nothing sticks out in my mind. So I did a phone a friend, and I asked Aaron, because he just remembers different things. He pointed out to me that at so many running events you just see people in all kinds of costumes. He specifically thought that I should mention that there is a guy that he has seen running a marathon who juggles the entire time, [Shireen laughs] which is just…Calm down. Like, calm down.
Amira: People who are like multitalented like that…There’s this person who, you know, lifts, and was doing ridiculous kind of workouts, and at one point held with one hand in the middle of a pull up and in the other hand solved a Rubik's cube.
Jessica: Yeah, we don't need that.
Amira: And it was just like, why are you multi…? Like, okay, people can be multi-faceted and talented, but it just also feels kind of like you're rubbing it in their face that like, A) you can solve a Rubik's cube and you can solve it with one hand and you can solve it in one hand while hanging your full body weight on the other hand. It was too much. It reminded me of when I worked at Center for Talented Youth at Hopkins over the summer, and they have a talent show at the end, and the act that like brought the house down was this little boy who, with one hand tied behind his back, solved a Rubik's cube while reciting the entire number chain of Pi. And that's kind of how I feel about what you just shared, Jessica.
Shireen: When you said the number chain of Pi, I immediately thought cherry or pecan. It took me a second to register that you were talking about the number. I'm like, why are there numbers involved in baking?
Amira: Listen, welcome to Burn It All Down, where this morning we're basically all Amelia Bedelias. So, whether you are baking pie or reciting the number chain of it, or you are a pitch invader, or maybe inventing a new job as a pigeon baiter, we look forward to all of these random moments of hilarity and joy in and around sports. So, as of today, when we're recording this, the middle of may, May 16th, the Olympics are still on, [laughs] despite it feeling like maybe that shouldn't be a thing and, you know, many, many questions and very few answers, quite honestly. So, in order to try to sift through what's happening with the Olympics, we are going to dive right in, and I will tell you from the top that there are a lot more questions than there are answers, both in general but also in this segment.
Every other day there's a news item about the Olympics and it seems to be jumbled up in the kind of mayhem of the lead-up. And here we are. And I think the place to start is where we have to start: the reason why we're having the 2020 Olympics in 2021 is because of COVID, because of the global pandemic, and that is not over, and that is still one of the biggest concerns leading into the Olympic Games. So, the IOC announced that they were going to be offering vaccinations to all participants in the Tokyo Games recently, and this is one way that the IOC thinks that they can keep the Olympics safe and make them go still. Jess, what was your reaction to that announcement?
Jessica: Yeah, I think it's a complicated reaction, as you were saying. Like, I feel like I have more questions than I do answers on this. So, the way that it'll work is that the IOC will provide the vaccine to athletes in their countries ahead of time. Obviously they need to take them before they get to Tokyo in order to be vaccinated. So, it will be administered domestically by whatever program within that country. There won't be a requirement though, that athletes, coaches, officials, or others be vaccinated for before coming to Japan. So I just feel like…I don't know how to feel about it. If you're going to force these games on a public that's in crisis, as Japan is right now around COVID, it does seem right to send in as many vaccinated people as you possibly can to lessen the burden.
At the same time, it feels weird because we're talking about a country…Japan has maybe 1% of their country vaccinated at this point – I saw a stat that maybe it's up as high as 3%, but that's so low. The difference between those two numbers is negligible. The idea that we're going to vaccinate athletes to send them into a country to put on a sporting event when that country is still struggling to even get people vaccinated, it just feels unethical when I think of it that way. So, part of me thinks good, this is a good thing to do if we're going to do this, but should we be doing this?
Amira: Should we be doing this is like a reoccurring question. Shireen.
Shireen: I mean, there's also that sense of feeling injustice, just listening to Jess talk about that number. Like. 2%, 3% is horrible. It's really, really, really stressful, but also the idea that there'll be offering vaccinations to athletes coming in as opposed to people of their own country is worrisome as well. But also, you can't force people to vaccinate. If athletes have reservations, or a staff or team officials or whatnot, coaches, medical teams themselves, have issues with that. You know, and I come from a place, particularly in Canada where the history of medical and pharma history is excruciatingly horrific with Black and Indigenous communities and racialized communities. So, there are hesitations about it. And I understand that and I get that. So, you can't force people to do that. And if athletes come and they don't want to be vaccinated, what then?
Naomi Osaka actually said, was quoted, and we'll put the link in the show notes, she said on vaccinating people, “I feel like whatever makes everyone more comfortable and more safe, there's going to be a lot of people entering the country. So they definitely have to make the right decisions on that. I've gotten vaccinated. At the end of the day you can't force anyone to be vaccinated.” She did also add, "If you're going into the Olympics and whatever, make the host country happy.” So, there’s a lot there. I mean, she herself has been vaccinated, but again, the disparity between who has access to it and the visitors coming…And what's the priority there?
Jessica: Yeah. Then I think about like what this means if they're giving the vaccines over to different domestic programs, like, there's going to be inequity in like which countries are going to have the infrastructure to get their people vaccinated. There's so much there that it seems good on the surface but then as soon as you scratch, like, where are we?
Amira: Certainly. And I mean, this is like part of the context that's happening right now, is that we also are seeing extreme inequity in vaccination distribution. You know, here in the United States, I know a lot of people were kind of shocked and pleased to see the US, the administration has indicated that they support waiving patents on the COVID vaccinations, which is pissing off the US pharmaceutical regime, of course, but that would allow that IP to be shared in places where they're having less ability to even get them. And so I think when you're talking about the Olympics, you're talking about a global competition. You have athletes and teams and trainers coming in from all parts of the globe.
We have tried, and in my opinion failed, many times over this past year to underscore that this has been a global pandemic and the way to safety through it is also going to take a global effort. And you're talking about people coming in from around the globe that's still very inequitable in terms of the resources to vaccinate. So I think that this is not the same bubbles or wubbles that you see US domestic leagues being able to put up – which still had their problems, right? You’re talking about people from everywhere coming to Tokyo. And then if we focus, right, zoom in on just even where they're being held in Japan, there's vaccination issues there, right Jess?
Jessica: Yeah. So not only is there this low rate, but there's just general infrastructure struggles to get people vaccinated. So like, last week for example, there were technical problems that derailed their coronavirus vaccination booking system. It crashed in a ton of places – and this wasn't an isolated Japanese issue, it was a global problem with a US-based cloud computing vendor that was overseeing this website. But it also comes on the heels of other issues, like there was a contact-tracing application that failed to pass on vital information. There was a cumbersome database that health workers in Japan were really reluctant to use.
And so it does kind of leave you like, this is the government that people in Japan are supposed to trust to put on a quote unquote “safe” Olympics? Like, you can see why people in Japan are not feeling this and are very worried about what this will mean for their communities if the Olympics actually show up. Can they trust that the government is actually doing its part to make sure that it's as safe as possible? Those are legitimate questions at this point.
Amira: Yeah. Some of the loudest voices that are objecting to this come from the medical professionals in Japan.
Shireen: One of the things that struck me as really upsetting and all this is that, you know, we keep forgetting that this plague as I call it continues, and the frontliners are still doing their work. They've been the most impacted. And the IOC reached out to ask 500 nurses to volunteer for this summer games, and just saying that aloud makes me want to vomit, like, in the middle of all this...You're dealing with stressed out communities in your country, and then the IOC walks in here with their bazillions and are like “volunteer.” And so, you know, the total number of COVID deaths, according to this Guardian article that we will actually also put in the show notes, is past 10,000, and the highest in the region – this article is from May the 3rd, so it's fairly recent. But the 10,000 medical workers, according to Olympic officials, will be required for the games. 10,000 in a country that can't handle this at the moment, infrastructure-wise and mentally, and emotionally and psychologically, physically cannot handle it. So, it sent out a wave of rage on social media where the nurses were unequivocally, “No, this is not happening.” And according to Mikito Ikeda, who's a nurse in Nago, she said, "Beyond feeling anger, I was stunned at the insensitivity [of the request],” and that for me sums up everything, how absolutely detached the IOC and organizing people are from folks on the ground, which is also worrisome, reckless and dangerous.
Jessica: And like, I wonder what this means for athletes who are going to show up to compete? Like, we can talk about them getting COVID and then stressing the system that way, but also just athletes get hurt all the time when they're competing at the highest possible level, they're pushing themselves beyond what they probably should in order to win medals. And so, what does this mean for athlete health? That seems like such a small issue when we're looking at COVID in general, but you can see how this will ripple out that way.
Amira: Yeah. The ripple effects are many and varied and, you know, switching a little bit from the medical concern of it, the other thing that we see happening is when we're talking about the Olympics we're talking about a huge kind of logistical thing that involves many different sites and locales on the ground. And one of the things that the IOC relies on is many, many hosts cities and towns that even before the opening ceremony starts, host athletes for things like training camps, exchanges to get them into the country and kind of on the ground settled before the parade of nations and the games kick off. And so usually they call upon hundreds of towns to do this, and we've seen this week that at least 40 towns have already declined, have changed plans to host these visiting athletes, citing COVID concerns and medical resources already.
And some of these places aren't necessarily in cities, right? They're smaller enclaves that were regions that were going to host specific sports. And so, yes, it's going to be a logistical headache, but that is also something that, you know, when we're thinking about the concerns here, we have to take into account, like Jess said, all the ripples, but the full picture. So we know for instance, the place where the US track and field team is supposed to have training camp is one area that has been very hard hit by this fourth wave in Japan. When you hear these things you're like, how is this…? How, how, how?
Shireen: The other thing that I read this week in prepping for the segment was Japan has closed borders to 152 countries. What!? But you're going to have the Olympics? What? Like, what? I'm sorry. I feel like that's all I can say about this.
Jessica: And wasn’t it like the head of the IOC didn't go on a trip to Japan because it's not safe to go. It's just...How can all these things exist at the same time? I feel Shireen’s, like, I don't have words for this. Like, how can we put all these pieces together and have a complete puzzle that makes any kind of sense to us? It just doesn't.
Amira: And as the questions mount, top athletes from Japan are starting to speak out and raise concern. Our beloved Naomi Osaka for instance was like, listen, there's so much important stuff going on, especially the past year, but you know, it's this putting people at risk and it's making people uncomfortable, then there definitely should be a discussion. She noted that that's where she thinks things are at. Fellow Japanese tennis player, Japan's top ranked player, Kei Nishikori, also echoed these concerns a few days later, and he talked about, like, look, it's not like a hundred people are coming to these tournaments. He noted that it was like 10,000 people in the village playing a tournament. He was like, what's happening in Japan right now, it's not doing good.
He raised a lot of concerns about what it would take to make a good bubble and what the risks were, and it's a major step that athletes are starting to speak out. It's not surprising that Japanese athletes are kind of leading the way on that. But we've also seen other tennis players join with them in talking about some of the barriers to participation. Shireen, what is Serena saying?
Shireen: One of the things that I thought was really interesting was that Serena was interviewed about this for the Washington Post, and she said that she wouldn't actually consider going if she can't take Olympia, which we know she travels with her family to almost every event, which is amazing, and amazing for several reasons. One, that she has the resources to be able to do this, two, that she's setting a precedent for this kind of thing in professional women's sports. I love all of this. However, the lack of options will affect participation, and very often places like the Olympics you'll have family go and support their athletes, and for some families not having childcare will result in not going and what this looks like. These are all pieces that haven't been figured out yet because the people making the decisions at the table are clearly not mothers. They're clearly not people that are caregivers. They're men with power who make these decisions.
I think this is something that Serena said in this article for Washington Post, is that she would focus on other events, like major grand slams instead, because that's really the crux of…She’s won medals at the Olympics, undoubtedly, and that's important, however grand slams are more important. So unlike other athletes where Olympics is probably the pinnacle of competition, grand slams are still important and she still has those options, which she will look to and hopefully be able to participate in, as opposed to the Olympics. But it makes me think about the other athletes who don't have those resources.
Amira: Roger Federer has also joined the chorus of tennis players raising concern, noting that while he would love to obviously play in the Olympics and win a medal for Switzerland he would understand if the Olympics had to be canceled and he noted that ultimately what athletes need right now is a decision and that they can't live in this uncertainty, and I think that that is really valid. Many athletes are like, listen, I'm just putting my head down and training. I can't afford to stop training in case they go on, but like I also have these concerns and I think many athletes are absolutely most sick of the uncertainty around it. And I think that the point Shireen just made is absolutely one of the kind of critical things. I don't think it's a surprise that some of these early voices are coming from tennis players who are on a circuit in which there is many big events and the Olympics is like, cool, bonus.
Many of them will be there, but A) it's not their biggest tournament, but B) it's not actually where they're going to make the most money. And so one of the things that I think about when we're talking about athletes in more precarious positions and why they're like, no, we can't afford to stop training, because this is it. They trained for four years for the Olympics. They've already had to figure out how to sustain that training over a year in the time when everything got pushed back. But the Olympics is where they get their most sponsors, their endorsements, it sets them up financially. So, I think for athletes in sports that are truly Olympic sports, where this event is the pinnacle of their career and their economic…This is it. It is definitely more complicated and the uncertainty is still an issue. But the pro and con list looks a little bit different.
Jessica: Yeah, I definitely think tennis players have a very different relationship to the Olympics than most athletes that compete in the Olympics because they're constantly doing international competitions all year long. So, it's not that it's not important. Roger Federer cried when he won his medal with Stan Wawrinka in the doubles. It's not like this is not important to them, but yeah, I think I agree with you Amira that there's just a different relationship that they have to these games. So, it is interesting that they are the voices we're hearing a lot from at this point.
Amira: Right. I think it's like your thoughts about what should happen with the Olympics also really depends on who you center, right? When we're talking about hospitals being overrun and we're talking about people on the ground, it's hard to hear any of that and not automatically say absolutely this is not worth it. You know what I mean? When you think about tennis players, it's easy to say like, oh yeah, it will be sad, but we'll see you at Australian Open, et cetera, et cetera. But then sometimes when I center, you know, I think about those Olympic athletes who talked about how they returned to Uber, they returned to cleaning houses for a year waiting to get this payday. Like, this was going to be the thing that put food on the plate for their family for the next foreseeable future. And when I center them, I think about what is at stake for them with cancellation.
I'm not thinking about the pockets of the IOC, you know, their pockets will be lighter, who gives a damn. But like, actually for folks on the ground or marginalized athletes who use the Olympics to get into a place that's safer, right? To literally leave their countries and go to other places. It's hard, it's hard. But there are people who have, you know, in addition to athletic voices and people on the ground of course...And we've talked about anti-Olympic activists constantly. Of course, much of their concern is being proven by how these games are being held. Our good friend Jules Boykoff, for instance, just wrote a piece for The Times calling for the Olympics to be canceled.
Jules Boykoff: Medical officials in Japan and across the world are clamoring for the Olympics to be canceled. Olympic athletes are amazing to behold, no question, but the Olympics are a wholly optional sporting spectacle, not some essential service to humanity. Choosing to press ahead with the Tokyo Games means creating a massive, potentially dangerous petri dish. For the sake of global public health, it's time to listen to science. The Tokyo Olympic Games should be canceled. Why do I take this position? Well first, out of concern for global public health. 3.3 million people have died of coronavirus thus far. Second, out of concern for public health in Japan, where cases are surging – they're in the midst of their fourth wave of COVID-19 and less than 2% of the population is fully vaccinated. Third, out of concern for the health of Olympic athletes. We don't yet know the full effects of coronavirus on the body, including the heart. And fourth, out of respect for the Japanese majority. Right now around 60% of the population want the games to be canceled.
The only complicating factor really is that canceling the Olympics means depriving athletes of a chance to shine. As listeners of Burn It All Down well know, the Olympics are an enormous pedestal for women athletes. The Tokyo Games are also slated to include trans athletes in the potential for serious athlete activism. But as a former Olympic level athlete, I still don't think that games should go on. I can appreciate how difficult the situation is for athletes. A canceled Olympics would be devastating. Arguing for cancellation brings me absolutely no joy when I think of Olympic athletes and all they've done to achieve their five ring dreams. And I don't expect them to like my conclusions, let alone agree with them, but I hope that one day they'll appreciate where I'm coming from. I also might point out that the International Olympic Committee foreclosed the option to postpone the games further, making cancellation the clear option.
I can promise Olympic athletes this: I will continue to fight for athlete rights. I will continue to fight for athletes to get a bigger slice of the Olympic money pie. And should the games ultimately be canceled, I will fight for Olympic organizations around the world to increase funding for mental health support and counseling. For many spectators, what is most alluring about the Olympics is there are audacious impracticality, with thousands of athletes from many sports coming together from around the world to compete in one place.However, during a global health crisis, this has potentially lethal consequences. Pressing ahead with the Olympics risks drinking poison to quench our thirst for sport. The possibility of a superspreader catastrophe is not worth it for an optional sporting spectacle. It's time to cancel the Tokyo Olympics.
Amira: So Jess, again, lots of questions, few answers. But I'm wondering if we could think about where do we take this conversation?
Jessica: Yeah, I'm really not sure. Like, one thing I keep thinking about is who should get to make this decision about cancellation versus who is actually going to make this decision. I’ll just say now, like, I think it's going to happen in the end. I don't really see the IOC pulling the plug here because of the amount of money that these stakeholders have invested in these games. I don't know if Japan can afford to pull this, financially. But what does that mean? Can they afford it as far as like what the impact on their infrastructure is going to be on the health and lives of the people who live there? And I think about these towns that Amira talked about, the 40 that have pulled out and said you can't come here, like, we can't handle this. And that there was a part of me that felt a little relief in reading that, that they do have some ability to wield a little power in this decision-making. But it's one of those moments where you see power and you see capitalism and you just think it's going to roll right over the people of Japan.
At the same time, as Amira said very well, what does this mean for the individual athletes up to this point in time? Like, I can't establish in my mind what is fair here and I think there's no answer, is the unsatisfying thing. I think it is unfair to Japan to hold these games, and I think it is unfair to a lot of these athletes who, you know, maybe this system of the Olympics is not good. [laughs] Maybe it is bad and exploitative in all of the ways that it is set up so that these people are dependent on these games happening every four years in order to feed their families. Maybe that is a bad system that we should be rethinking, but it is the system that exists right now. And it will harm people if the individuals that we care about, the athletes we care about, if these games don't happen. And I just think there's no answer to that tension at this point. I dunno. I keep wondering…I’ll watch the Olympics if they happen; I'm gonna feel real bad about it. And I'm just preparing for that.
Shireen: I always grapple with this, and this is something we’ve talked about on the show for four years! [laughs] For four years, like sort of struggling with despising the mega events that gentrify, militarize, you know, that are so toxic in so many ways, as Jules said, but also the amplification of women's sports that we don't see, that this is an opportunity for exposure – and para games as well. This is something that I struggle with, like particularly when do we get to watch Iranian women archers or skeet shooters? When does that happen? This happens at the Olympics, that we get to see. We get the photography, we get the video, we get...That was just one example. But my point is that I feel it. And I've learned this year in grad school, and I say this: it’s complicated, and that's what all the smart people say, it's complicated, because it truly is. There is no one answer.
Will I watch the Olympics? Yeah. If they happen. Will I hate myself as I'm doing it? Yeah. I think about, you know, the colleagues that I have that will be attending and reporting on it and their safety. What does it look like for them and what the heaviness with which they're attending and taking resources from a place that, as Jess said, can't carry it? And Amira, you've had Gwen Berry and had so many conversations with Gwen on the show before. And I think back to her so often, and her words about how she was relying on those games last year when she was on the show talking about it, and she comes to mind first and foremost, that we need to be able to have something to support these athletes. And that currently doesn't exist.
Amira: Yeah, it reveals just how janky these systems are. And yet they’re our systems. I think that, yes, it's complicated, but also we can't like afford to throw up our hands at complication because harm continues in that kind of confusion. And so for me, I think a lot of this, as much as I hate philosophy, [laughs] you know, a lot of these are those types of ethical questions that don't ever feel resolved because there is no kind of perfect thing that makes everybody safe and happy and have what they need. Perhaps it isn't that there are so few answers, but also that every answer just feels very unsatisfying and incomplete. I know Jess, you think a lot about fairness in sports in many different ways, whether it’s in terms of doping or about barriers to participation of a number of ways. And I'm wondering how this has factored into your thoughts about the kind of ethical dimensions of sport and what we consider to be fair or not?
Jessica: Yeah, I think what does “fair” mean in this moment? And I don't think we can say. I liked that Amira, that there are answers and they're also unsatisfying, right? Like, however we answer this question, it's going to feel deeply unfair to someone. I think this is one of those moments where I worry that this is a good discussion that is happening. Like Naomi saying we should be having this conversation is, yes, and I worry that that these games will happen and they will be over. And there'll be a few reporters within Japan, maybe some international that will tell us about the ramifications on those communities. And they will just be like little sidebars in newspapers or, you know, there'll be a couple of tweets about them or something, and we will forget, and we'll ramp it all back up for China next year. But it's so fleeting. This model is so useful in forcing the conversation to end. What will this mean when it's all over too? So I don't know. I just feel…This makes me feel…Blah.
Shireen: That's the technical term, is “blah,” and I absolutely absolutely co-sign that.
Amira: Well, like I said, this is of central concern, and it's something that we will continue to follow in the lead up of that inevitable opening ceremonies. And I think that the last kind of point I wanted to make about the Olympics is that for us, for lay consumers or semi lay consumers and bystanders of the Olympics, I think that there's a way that technology really obfuscates some of the ways that these concerns are on the ground. So, what I mean by that is when the Olympics inevitably open up with the opening ceremony and you're watching the parade of nations from your couch, it might not feel different because we're watching people, because of camera angles, because it's inside the stadium. It's not on the outside. It’s not looking at the medical professionals holding signs in windows saying, “No Olympics.” It's not looking at the activists on the ground. It's not seeing these other concerns and negotiations and dilemmas. It's going to just be the spectacle. I think that because of that it becomes harder to hold and reckon with all parts of this conversation.
So, our attempt here at Burn It All Down is to continue to have this conversation as the Olympics roll on, and while we spent most of this segment talking about COVID and its impacts in this dilemma, it's the Olympics, so you know there's a whole heap of other bullshit that we want to talk about leading up to the games. And so if you're on our Patreon platform, please head over there for the extended part of this conversation in which me, Shireen and Jessica are going to take you through some of the other Olympic mess that's happening. It's a mini burn of sorts. We're going to talk everything from drug testing to messed up boxer rankings because of pregnancy to the asinine ban on Black Lives Matter merchandise. There's a lot of other crap that we're going to discuss in terms of the Olympics.
Shireen: So basically you had the IOC sitting down with a style guide and deciding that words like peace, respect, solidarity, and inclusion, equality are permitted. But equality and inclusion and solidarity for what, you can’t say.
Amira: So again, that's over on our Patreon, check out the rest of the conversation there and stay tuned for that space because I have a feeling it’s not the last time we're going to do a mini burn segment on the mess that is the Olympic Games over the next few weeks.
This week, I talked to Bianca Tylek, the founder and executive director of Worth Rises. Worth Rises is a nonprofit org dedicated to dismantling the prison industry and all of its exploitation. One of the things that they are centering is telecommunications and it's an often overlooked site of the extent of the prison industrial complex. So, I'm going to talk to Bianca about the recent direct action protests that Worth Rises facilitated against Tom Gores, the Detroit Pistons owner, who also has investments in a private telecommunication system that is very harmful and has been impacting many families across the nation and their ability to communicate with their loved ones behind them bars.
Bianca Tylek: The prison telecom industry is a $1.4 billion industry entirely around communication of people inside with their loved ones outside.
Amira: It’s time for everyone's favorite segment, the burn pile. I want to start off with a mini burns sent to us by a flamethrower, Amanda Williams, who took a screenshot of the CBS coverage…She had turned on the TV to watch the WNBA’s opening weekend of games, went to CBS and found that the game was not showing yet. Why? Well, because despite the fact that the WNBA games were starting, CBS would not turn away from the exciting action at the end of the corn hole tournament. And so people tuning into the WNBA games on CBS were delayed before watching the 25th anniversary season tip off. So, thank you, Amanda, for that mini burn.
So, the other thing that I'm burning this week is not Tim Tebow signing, but what his signing represents and how it was talked about. So, for those of you who missed the news: Tim Tebow signed a contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars, reuniting with Urban Meyer and resurrecting his football career. They're looking at him to play tight end. One of the tweets that caught my eye in reaction to this was this Black woman, Lavern Spicer, who was running as a Republican candidate in Florida, and her tweet was, “Tim Tebow is getting signed because he knows how to throw a football, Colin Kaepernick isn't getting signed because he doesn’t. It's not about race.”
And it's like to me, ha, we all know this is bullshit, but also it indicates just how much political cache it is believed that you can gain by dumping on Colin Kaepernick, how he has become this symbol that's divorced from reality in many ways. Because, first of all, Tim Tebow cannot throw a football, [laughs] which is why he's not even getting signed to be quarterback. He's getting signed to be a tight end. Second of all, very rich to compare the football acumen of Tim Tebow, who threw one unbelievable pass to get his team into the playoffs that one time, once, with Colin Kaepernick, who led his team to the playoffs and to the Super Bowl and in position to win it.
So clearly you know not of what you speak, but that doesn't matter to you at all. The reason why people are mad about the signing is because when you compare Tim Tebow and Colin Kaepernick, which has been a useful comparison for people to point to, whether it's the different reactions to people taking a knee, right? They're doing the same action, and there's different reactions to why and how and when they're taking a knee. But also because it is another example of people who are not as good of players getting second and third chances, being brought into the league, and every time it just doubled down on the fact that Colin was blackballed. That's what it is. You can't look at these things and come away with other conclusions.
It's old hat at this point, it's kind of a shrug, and as we'll hear from Shireen later Colin is up to different things these days, continuing to do the work. And so, it was a mess. I would like to burn the continued misrepresentation of everything around Colin Kaepernick and his protest, and it as a quote unquote “distraction.” And if you don't think Tim Tebow is a motherfucking distraction to your team, just look at the media frenzy it set off when they announced his signing. So all of the tired ass things that we have now been talking about for five years, it was just a reminder that they're still going, and I would just like for old time's sake to burn it down.
All: Burn.
Amira: All right, Shireen, what are you burning this week?
Shireen: This made me real mad. I've been mad lot. I'm always mad a lot, but this particular thing…And I want to offer a trigger warning to anyone listening, because this is actually violent white supremacy taking place here. I was notified by my friend Yussuf Khan of First And Pen...And Yussuf had sent me a tweet about a story that was written about a high school softball player named Nicole Pyles of Hillside high school in Durham, North Carolina. While she was playing she was told by two umpires – one is Black and one is white – to cut off her beads and her braids during the game. During the game! She was singled out. And although the city of Durham had passed a non-discrimination policy, unfortunately, efforts to make the policy statewide were unsuccessful.
So, she was actually told…And the words that she used, and this is the first line of this piece is, “Does anyone have any scissors?” – which is incredibly jarring, and the first thing that I thought about when I heard this about the wrestler, Andrew Johnson – I wrote about him in 2018 – who had his dreads sawed off so that he could compete, and how the narrative around that was, oh, he's a great team player. No, you know what this is? This is him being a victim of white supremacy in sport. That's actually what this is. And this was the same thing. I want to hold space for Nicole, for being incredibly courageous and brave to talk about this, because she’s in high school! And having to deal with this is so upsetting.
We've covered this before, whether it was being kicked off the court for young volleyball players who wear hijab or whatever. This is about race, this is about identity, and this is unacceptable. So, as an actionable step, I would recommend everybody to contact the NFSHSA, it's a state organization, and write them in North Carolina to let them know. These policies were actually created by state organizations and associations, so it matters if you email them, even if you're not from North Carolina, please contact them and let them know. There will be this story in the show links, you can cite it. This is unacceptable. I want to take all of this and I just want to torch it. Burn.
All: Burn.
Amira: Jess, bring us home.
Jessica: So, just a note, I'm about to talk about sexual harassment and abuse. Earlier this month, Northwestern University announced they were hiring Mike Polisky, the school's deputy athletic director, as athletic director. This announcement was met with over a week of protest because Polisky is named in a sexual harassment lawsuit filed in January by a former Northwestern cheerleader, Hayden Richardson. If this sounds familiar it's because Shireen burned this in episode 192 back in February, the lawsuit and what it is in it. Polisky is not just part of an athletic department that is under scrutiny here, he is a defendant in the lawsuit. Richardson named him directly. You might recall that NU cheerleaders were being presented as sex objects to titillate the men that funded the majority of Northwestern's athletic programs. In the lawsuit, Richardson said she was groped and touched by older men and said the cheer team’s head coach required female members to “mingle” with power donors for the school's financial gain.
According to the Chicago Tribune, in her complaint, Richardson says Polisky dismissed her concerns and that multiple Black cheerleaders said he did not take complaints of racial discrimination seriously. So it boggles the mind that he would get the gig as the new AD. In response there were student-led protests, and six female NU faculty members wrote a letter to university administrators asking for an investigation into the hiring process. Nine days after he was hired, Polisky resigned from the position saying he didn't want to be a distraction. I kind of don't know what to say at this point. To be blunt, I'm fucking tired of this shit. We know what it looks like when athletic departments and those in charge of them do not take reports of harassment, discrimination, abuse, and assault seriously. We were reminded of it just this week in fact – the university of Michigan released a report by a firm that looked into a doctor who worked at the school, especially within athletics, for nearly 40 years, and who was accused by so many people of sexual abuse and misconduct.
The firm found at least 20 – 20! – occasions when a student athlete or other individual spoke with someone on the university staff about this man's abuse. At least eight of those were student athletes directly complaining to a coach or other athletic staff members, including legendary football coach Bo Schembechler, and an athletic director, Don Canham, who did nothing after being told twice about the doctor's abuse. I'm guessing Northwestern is hoping that Polisky’s resignation will mean that the heat will be off of them, but it shouldn't be. They should have to answer for how this hiring process went down and why a man accused of dismissing harm done to student athletes is promoted up the chain. This is all terrible, and I just want to burn it this week. So burn.
All: Burn.
Amira: After all that burning, it's time to highlight some Torchbearers of the week who are lighting the way to a better sporting future. We'll start with a memoriam. Shireen?
Shireen: Thanks Amira. I wanted to hold space for the family and community of Chandro Tomar, who is an Indian markswoman. She died last month at the age of 90. She was noted around the world and picked up on social media for her incredible accurate shot. She first picked up a gun at the age of 68 and she lives in Johri, which is a village in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. She had discovered that she had a gift for shooting when she was younger, much, much younger. I think it's really incredible here because this speaks to us about breaking down gender barriers, because guns and even marksmanship is seen as a sport that’s predominantly male, and for her to be an older woman in a community, a small Indian village, to be able to do this has created opportunity and it's helping people unlearn what that can be.
She would enjoy firing her pistol and there was joy on her face, and she's a beautiful woman. She trained at night while her family slept, holding heavy jug so she could keep her arms steady. So, she doesn't have access to gyms and all these things so she was using very traditional and old fashioned things to build her body up and to stay fit. And I just want to hold space for that and for her, and she's like a light and someone I look to and I think of, okay, when my soccer's over, then I can start marksmanship, maybe.
Jessica: Oh no. [laughs]
Shireen: So, I would love to be this older South Asian woman who’s shooting things. So, Chandro, we love you and hope you rest in peace.
Amira: Jessica, who's our dream team of the week?
Jessica: The Atlanta Dream announced that their broadcasting crew for the 2021 season will be all Black and all female, with Tabitha Turner and Angel Gray calling the games and LaChina Robinson and Autumn Johnson has analysts. Dream co-owner and vice president Renee Montgomery said in a statement, “This broadcast team of all women is another positive step in our goal of providing empowerment to the diverse Atlanta community. It's exciting knowing that moments such as these will create momentum and we plan to keep that same level of energy moving forward.”
Amira: Our mental health advocate of the week is Drew Robinson. This past week, Drew returned to baseball, playing for the Sacramento River Cats, a Triple A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. He returned after about a year of being away from the game after a suicide attempt resulted in him losing one of his eyes. His pathway over the last year has brought him not only back to professional baseball but as a very vocal advocate of mental health and mental health awareness. He hopes by sharing his story he inspires other people to talk as openly about mental health, their needs, and more resources to support it.
He says, “I'm just proof that if you focus on the right perspectives and the right things, you'll see hints of pure joy for life. And it's a beautiful thing. And it's a powerful thing. No matter how bad things seem at that time, it's not as important as the next day, the next minute of making that change to help yourself.” Jeff Passan wrote a beautiful story about Drew Robinson, and there's also an upcoming E60 documentary called Alive on ESPN. And until then, Drew, welcome back. All right, Shireen, who's our editor of the week?
Shireen: Love this, love this. Editor of the week goes to: Colin Kaepernick. Just a few days ago, he announced that the publication of the book, it's called Abolition For the People: a Movement for a Future Without Policing and Prisons. It will be edited by Colin Kaepernick, but as he says it's going to feature the work of over 30 contributors plus a reader's guide infographics, actionable steps. Cover art is by Emory Douglas. It's a beautiful, beautiful looking book. I can't wait to get it. He says here, "I'm proud to have edited this collection and hope it adds to the chorus of voices calling for a world without and beyond policing and prisons.”
It is so necessary. I'm so excited for this book. There's some incredibly notable names, including Mariame Kaba, I believe, is part of this. It's so wonderful. It is everything that we want the discussions to be on local sport, art, culture, movement, everything. And I'm so excited to get it. Also, Eid just happened so if y'all want to get me this as a belated Eid present I'm down.
Amira: [laughs] Jess, who’s our new coach of the week?
Jessica: So last week, a day before the LA Sparks played their home opener, Seimone Augustus, one of the greatest to ever play the game, announced she was retiring after 15 years in the WNBA. Augustus won four championships with the Minnesota Lynx, was an eight time All-Star, won three Olympic gold medals and is 10th in points in WNBA history with 6,005. She has joined the Sparks coaching crew as an assistant, so while she's gone from the court she's only gone as far as the sideline. We can't wait to see what coach Augustus does.
Amira: Amazing. I wanted to make sure we shout out our very special investor of the week, the one and only Sara Toussaint, our favorite Puerto Rican Palestinian, a flamethrower, staunch advocate for women's sports, who is one of the newest members of the investment group of the North Carolina Courage. [cheers] It's so dope. Congrats to you, Sara.
And I wanted to just take a moment before I tell you who the torchbearer of the week is to talk about some former guests of our show who've been absolutely holding it down this week. First and foremost, our friend Gwen Berry took hold top marks at the USA’s track and field Golden Games at Mount SAC last weekend. She won, she got out into the lead early with a gigantic toss of 73.56 somethings…I don't ever know the unit of measurement. But what I do know it's hella far and she kept the lead and she never looked back. So congrats Gwen on a great showing at the Golden Games.
Also wanted to shout out former guest, Kiki Stokes. Kiki Stokes is now coaching at South Dakota State softball team, the Jackrabbits, and they just secured their first ever summit league championship title in program history and became automatic qualifiers to the women's softball college post-season tournament. So, congrats Kiki. We see you not only on the field, but coaching as well. And lastly, I wanted to shout out recent guest, Andraya Carter, who we know from calling SEC tournaments, and opened this weekend alongside Monica McNutt, talking about and being commentator for the WNBA. So Draya, Kiki, and Gwen – we see you continuing to shine. And now, a drum roll, please.
[drumroll]
Shireen: Sorry, I’m late with my drumroll.
Amira: Okay. And now a drum roll, please.
[drumroll]
Our torchbearer of the week goes to: everybody who was involved in the production of 144, the documentary Chiney Ogwumike of course, the EP credit for that. 144 captures the last year that was in the WNBA, from the decisions to go into the bubble, the life and the wubble, the player’s-only meeting discussing what protests would look like. It's a fascinating, compelling documentary. Shireen, I know you wrote about 144 for the Guardian, and Jessica, I know that you were very touched by it. What was so impactful about this documentary that you want our listeners to know?
Shireen: One of the things for me is I interviewed both filmmakers for my piece in the Guardian, and the fact that they're both racialized women – one is Black, one is Latinx – was really important because of the nature and also the way the vulnerability of the players struck me the most. I've watched a lot of athlete docs, but this one really hit me, is I've never seen one showcase them as so vulnerable in real time. And that was like…I cried in it, multiple times, because of the way that it was done
Jessica: I did too. I cried a lot.
Shireen: Yeah. And just the rawness of it and how much I've been thinking about that affected the filmmakers as well in their process of doing it. That was something I talked about in the piece as well, but it was also a place that they held joy and that was very intentional too. It was beautifully done and I would highly recommend teaching it. I would highly recommend watching it. I would highly recommend showing it to everybody whether or not they're into basketball.
Jessica: Yeah. The honesty in it is beautiful. You can stream it on ESPN right now. If you missed it, you should go watch it. I will say, one of the highlights is how much we got to see Dearica Hamby and her daughter Amaya. But I just think the honesty that these women were willing to put on screen was a hell of a thing. It's a real gift.
Amira: And I can attest to how much Jess enjoyed it because I have a running text conversation, which it was mostly–
Jessica: It’s just me saying I’m crying.
Amira: Exactly, it was like, “I'm crying again!” [laughs] “Oh, I’m crying again.” So to Chiney, to the filmmakers, to the 144 players featured on this documentary film, and to everybody who supported and continues to support the W while we're celebrating the first week of returning to action, please definitely make time to watch 144. It is our torchbearer of the week.
Shireen: Can I just add a really quick – Layshia Clarendon, I love you so much. It was so tough because tip off was this week, the season was starting, to get an interview for my piece. I messaged them and they replied with a beautiful statement. Layshia, you are my favorite person in the entire universe. Thank you so much for doing that for me. Again, I love you.
Amira: All right y’all, what's good in your worlds? Jessica.
Jessica: I don't know, it's hard at this point. I will say it was really fun to see the Dallas Wings do their opener against the Sparks 94-71. I'm trying to be better about supporting my women's pro teams here in Texas. So, the Wings and the Dash, but the Dash unfortunately lost their opener to Gotham this weekend. But man, you never know what to expect with the Wings. It was fun because Vickie Johnson is their head coach and she played in the very first WNBA game ever against the Sparks. She was on New York at that time. So, for her to come out and then be in the opener, you know, the first day of play in the 25th season and the team just looked good, and it was fun.
And then the other thing I was thinking, I was like, what is been good? Aaron and I started watching the very Canadian show Letterkenny, and it is the weirdest, strangest thing. It's on Hulu. I don't really even know how to describe it. I have to look up a lot of the slang. They talk very fast. There's a lot about hockey in it, but it is so funny. I think it's a very specific kind of humor. So, I wouldn't necessarily recommend it for everyone, but you should like give it a shot and see how it goes for you. But what a weird little show.
Shireen: Did the words shinny hockey come up at all in this? Because you know what that is now.
Jessica: Not yet, but I do have to keep Googling phrases. There's like a whole site that explains Letterkenny jargon to people, because I don't know if it's actually like…I think it's jargon for the show, not necessarily just like Canadian or hockey or whatever. So it's good.
Amira: Well, my what’s good is a bit more forward facing, I think, then like what's actually happening. I do want to shout out my sister-in-law Siobhan Cunningham who has waited a year to walk across her graduation stage and is actually getting to walk in graduation actually right as we speak, right at this moment. But yeah, a lot of my what's good is things I'm looking forward to. I will be talking on Monday – so, by the time you hear this it will have already happened – but I'm really excited to be speaking for this program called Celebrate Field Day and Field Day is this dramatic performance piece that's re-imagining track and field but as a space for Black queer and trans folks in New York who are coming together to put on this performance space to kind of upend track and field and binaries in sports by using movement styles from other places in which moving free looks different. So, whether that's voguing or capoeira, or you know, a blend of like fitness exercises and house music, dancing, line dancing.
So that event, stay tuned for that. That will be in late June, but I'll be speaking in the run-up to enjoining many voices as we lead up to Field Day to talk about race and gender and binaries in sport. I'm very excited about the work that's being done for Field Day. If you want to know more, you can go to the website, celebrateFieldDay.com for more information and links to past and future conversations. I'm also, now that the semester is over, I'm in writing mode. I am writing a bunch of stuff, but I'm also starting to get really excited about moving to Austin and putting this into the universe because I hope to be there in June just for a little bit, but with Jess, so we can go see all of the fun soccer that's being played! And so I'm just like, it hit me the other day. Yeah, I'll be flying in June to do that, but I'll have a whole year where I can drag Jessica to so many different sporting events!
Jessica: I’m thrilled.
Amira: I am very excited about that. And my daughter got her first shot!
Jessica: My son got his too.
Amira: At the same time y’all! Can I tell you about the universe?
Jessica: They were in observation at the exact same time.
Shireen: Oh, wow.
Amira: Isn’t that wild? Jess was like, yeah, I’m in observation because he just got his first shot. I said that's literally where I am right now! And I even made Samari take a picture to demonstrate that we were in fact waiting in observation. So, that feels kind of cool, and it means that her second dose will be my birthday week. So, my birthday weekend, we can…I don't know, we’re still not doing shit! But still feels like something happened. So that's kind of where I'm at. Shireen?
Shireen: I want to say Eid mubarak to everybody. Eid was on Thursday. It's been a heavy time with so much happening with the heaviness of Palestine, and we offer our solidarity to those communities out there. On that note, I managed to have some joy and hold some happiness in my own family, and it was very low key. It was just my family, but it was wonderful and we were able to have that space. I had community and friends and neighbors who have not met before dropping off sweets. Like, my house was like a bakery to a point where I was panicking because I was like, there's so much sweets. There's so many boxes of things that have been dropped off. And you know, you're reciprocating, and I have one particular neighbor who I love and she's wonderful, but she sends these beautifully packaged things and I get stressed out because I can't reciprocate. So I'm like, It's okay. It's a wonderful thing to happen.
And one neighbor I had even met yet brought over a box of Krispy Kreme donuts. And my kids were like, yes! It’s like, jackpot. I've lived here for two years and I haven't even met them before. So that was a beautiful thing. I think the weather has something to do with it. One of the key fun pieces of Eid was I got my parents this book by this Canadian author named Aaron Reynolds that's called Effin’ Birds. So it's pictures of birds with just profanity. My mom lost it laughing. It's like a picture of an owl saying like, fuck you. And she just loves it. She has this laugh that I love that she laughs which morphs into a wheeze and then a cough and then she starts coughing uncontrollably and then tears run down her face. So it was just lovely to hold that space.
The WNBA again, I'm again in love with Candace Parker. Love it. Tim Duncan otherwise known as my husband was enshrined into the hall of fame and I love his dreads and I love him in that maroon blazer. So, thank you Timmy for giving me a gentle nod that I don't know if everyone else picked up on, but that was for me.
Last thing I do want to say is that I took my kids…The first time I ever took my kids to a pro-Palestine, pro-Gaza rally was when Saif, who is now 21 – so happy birthday to my baby, who turned 21. I have a 21 year old son, folks! Which is wild. He was a baby and I took him as an infant and put them in a sling with a keffiyeh, which is a Palestinian headdress. Anyway, I took my kids last night, the three older ones, to a Palestinian solidarity rally last night. It's very cool for me because protest and rallying and activism has been part of my life since I was a baby, particularly on this issue, for chosen family and community. So going with my kids was incredible.
This is something that I hope that we don't have to do forever. I don't want my grandchildren to be protesting this. I don't want my grandchildren to be fighting for this particular or any type of racial injustice, police brutality, occupation, ethnic cleansing. But there was a moment that it was really like, you know, it was really important for me to be here with my children and them to be able to hold space. And there was community care. There was love. There was support from many different communities and to have that and just share that was super important to me. And of course in the background is Dammi Falastini, which is an anthem that was playing through, all the cars that were honking and the flags that were there. It was wonderful. So, holding space for you.
Amira: So, there are lots of things on, Shireen tells me, that in addition to the NHL moving into his postseason, the international men's hockey championships are also happening this week. The two leagues that we especially want to shout out: we have a lot of NWSL action and WNBA action on the horizon. In terms of NWSL games, in the coming weeks ones that you might particularly want to tune into: on Friday, May 21st Racing Louisville is going to see the Washington Spirit, and the North Carolina Courage and the Orlando Pride and Gotham FC and the Chicago Red Stars are all seeing action on Saturday, May 22nd at 7:00 PM and 8:00 PM Eastern, respectively.
Then rounding that out next weekend, on Sunday, May 23rd, the Thorns at the Reign. If you know anything about that rivalry, it is massive. So if you're going to tune into any game, the Thorns and the Reign at 6:00 PM Eastern on Sunday, May 23rd might be one you pencil in. Also that day, the Dash play Kansas City. As a reminder, all these NWSL games are available on Paramount Plus, and that Thorns and Reign rivalry will be on CBS Sports network. Check it out. In terms of the WNBA, they will move into their second week of action this week. There are so many games for you to check out. There will be three games when this airs on the 18th, as well as games every night that week. And so here's another reminder that the WNBA league pass is only $17. I highly recommend that you check it out so you can get all of these games.
Particular ones that you might want to keep an eye out for: Tuesday, May 18th, 10:00 PM, Aces and Storm are meeting; and on Thursday, the Storm also in action again, playing the Lynx Friday. We have a full slate of games, including the Sparks at the Aces at 10:30 at night for my night owls. I love these west coast games. And Saturday the Storm and the Wings play at 8:00, if you need Saturday night plans. So, every day from Tuesday to Sunday next week you have WNBA action. Check it out.
That's it for this week's episode of Burn It All Down. This episode was produced by the amazing Tressa Versteeg. Shelby Weldon holds us down on all of our socials. You can subscribe and listen to Burn It All Down wherever you get your podcasts – rate it, share it from those spaces as well. We're on Facebook and Instagram @BurnItAllDownpod and on Twitter @burnitdownpod. Check out our website, burnitalldownpod.com for the links that we talk about, transcriptions for each episode. You also can directly link there to our Patreon. So if you want that extra special scrumptious segment that we did on other Olympic messes, it's living over there along with a lot of other things, including behind the scenes videos, behind the burn videos from our co-hosts.
This is also a reminder to check out our new merch site over on bonfire.com. The link is in our socials as well as on our website. You’ll find new apparel designs; hats coming soon, doggie tees coming soon. And just as a reminder, partial proceeds from all merch sales this month are going to support the task force, the Asian American sports journalists task force to help diversify newsrooms and sports reporting, and also to our friends over at Athlete Ally to support the work that they do as well. So from me – Amira – and Jessica and Shireen, that's all we have for you this week. We'll see you next week, flamethrowers, and until then: burn on, not out.