On this week's episode, Shireen, Lindsay, Brenda, and Jessica discuss whether sports media is equipped to handle the Black Lives Matter movement [7:30]. After that, Brenda sits down with Olympian Anita Asante to discuss the impact of Black Lives Matter in global football [21:50]. Finally, they speak about all the good, bad, and ugly of social media statements from this week [38:45].

Of course, you’ll hear the Burn Pile [56:10], the Bad Ass Woman of the Week segment, starring Amanda Nunes [1:07:30], and what is good in our worlds [1:09:50].

Links

Grading NHL Team responses to the #BlackLivesMatter protests: https://hockeyinsociety.com/2020/06/01/grading-nhl-team-responses-to-the-blacklivesmatter-protests/

Falcons QB Matt Ryan donating $500,000 to help Atlanta's black community: https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/29271194/falcons-quarterback-matt-ryan-donating-500000-support-atlanta-black-community

NWSL's Tziarra King, WNBA's Brianna Turner, and NWHL's Saroya Tinker want to have a conversation: https://www.powerplays.news/p/are-you-listening

Olympic commentator Johnny Weir deletes controversial tweet about going to bed with a loaded gun: https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/christinebrennan/2020/06/01/olympic-figure-skating-johnny-weir-deletes-controversial-tweet/5310204002/

NCAA argues in sex abuse case it has no legal duty to protect athletes: https://www.ocregister.com/2020/06/02/ncaa-argues-in-sex-abuse-case-it-has-no-legal-duty-to-protect-athletes/

Women's Hockey Greats Caroline Ouellette And Julie Chu Welcome Second Child Together! https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/caroline-ouellette-julie-chu-second-child

Black girls and supporters surf around the world to honor George Floyd: https://kfgo.com/2020/06/05/black-girls-and-supporters-surf-around-the-world-to-honor-george-floyd/

Transcript

Shireen: Welcome to this week’s episode of Burn It All Down – it’s the feminist sports podcast you need. First of all, the team at Burn It All Down would like to say that we are holding space for Black rage. We hear you, we see you, and we are with you. During this COVID-19 pandemic that is still ongoing, we are extending our love and solidarity with those who are on the front lines of every sector, those who can’t stay home, those who are working from home, those staying in, caretakers, parents, animal lovers, disruptors, resisters, protesters, folks in every community proving support systems whenever you can, Also, those missing sports, feeling isolated or trapped, we hope this show gives you something to think of, to laugh about, and, well, burn.

I’m Shireen Ahmed, freelance writer and sports activist in Toronto, Canada, leading the toxic femininity charge today. On this week’s panel we have the amazing Jessica Luther: weightlifter extraordinaire, my favorite PhD candidate/croissant maker, and co-author of the forthcoming book Loving Sports When They Don’t Love You Back; she’s in Austin, Texas. Dr Brenda Elsey, president of the Feminists for Leo Messi fan club, undeniable genius, and associate professor of history at Hofstra in New York; and the indomitable and brilliant Lindsay Gibbs, with the most beautiful laugh and the mightiest pen, freelance sports reporter and creator of the Power Plays newsletter – sign up at powerplays.news – she’s in DC.

Before we start, I would like to thank our patrons for their generous support and to remind our new flamethrowers about our Patreon campaign. You pledge a certain amount monthly, as low as $2 and as high as you want, to become an official patron of the podcast. In exchange for your monthly contribution you get access to special rewards. For the price of a latte a month you can get access to extra segments of the podcast, a monthly vlog, an opportunity to record on the burn pile, behind the scenes videos – only available to those in our Patreon community. So far we’ve been able to solidify funding for proper editing and transcripts, our social media guru Shelby, and our new producer Kinsey. Burn It All Down is a labor of love and we all believe in this podcast. We are so, so grateful for your support, and happy our flamethrowing family is growing.

We have such a kickass show for you this week. We will be talking about sports media, and are they equipped to handle this specific moment in time with regards to Black Lives Matter – what is the reporting about, how is it going? Brenda has an interview with Anita Asante, a centre-back for Chelsea, an English international and an Olympian, to discuss the impact of the Black Lives Matter movement in global football and the future of the Women’s Super League in England. Then we get into the good, the bad, and the ugly of social media statements on Black Lives Matter. But first, let’s have an important update on our fur babies. How are all the pets doing? Are they social distancing? Are they seeing their friends? What is happening with the fur babies? Jess.

Jessica: Yeah, so Ralph is social distancing and he has a really hard time whenever he sees someone outside because he wants everyone to pet him all the time, so he’s still struggling with that. He’s also struggling right now because he has heartworm…This has been a whole thing. In about a month he’s gonna get his first heartworm shot, but because he has heartworm he’s not allowed to go running, and he and Aaron were running up to 6 miles a day before this, so he’s a little bit bouncing off the walls and doesn’t understand this morning when Aaron went to go running, Ralph will go up to the door out to the garage because that’s how we leave, and he will just put his little snout up against the door and just stand there! Because Aaron has left him behind. But he’s good, he’s still perfect and we love him and we’re just really happy that he’s here.

Shireen: Lindsay, how’s Mo?

Lindsay: Yeah, Mo is cooped up. I was actually at the protest in DC yesterday and a lot of people brought their dogs, just during the daytime to march, and I was like, agh, I should’ve brought Mo! Mo would’ve loved this. He just needs to get out a little bit more. Also, he’s really struggling because he hasn’t been able to get his really good bath at the hair salon, like, really good de-shedding treatment and nails done. He doesn’t really let me do his nails, so he’s miserable because his nails are too long, but he’ll only let me do like one at a time. The pet store doesn’t have an opening for like, another three weeks for grooming. [laughs] So that is the most trouble I think he’s having. He will feel so much better, especially now that it’s 90 degrees every day, when he can get a little grooming, as we all will. But otherwise he’s been very good, he’s been very cuddly, and I have super appreciated that because I’ve needed cuddles.

Shireen: Brenda, how’s Leo?

Brenda: Leo’s perfect, he’s really happy to socially distance. He has no complaints. He listens to the show a lot. [Shireen laughs] He had a cold, and I freaked out and called Shireen. I had a cat before, but hasn’t been a long time! I don’t know why cold protocols would change. [laughter] I was incredibly concerned, I followed him around all day. I think he had had it with me, you know? I was listening, like, is that a wheeze? I don’t know, I’m recording it! My own reaction was hilarious. It was just a cold, he’s absolutely fine and happy and, yeah, I love him.

Shireen: I can’t remember who it was I talked about potentially doing a Zoom call for our pets, which I think would be great. That’s something that we need to think about.

Brenda: Me, me, me! I think he would love Tara, I think Leo would love to meet her.

Shireen: She would be unimpressed. [Brenda laughs] I’m not gonna lie, she would just not be interested. I Zoom called one of my best friends in London, Nabila, and she has a cat named Muffin. Muffin’s lovely, all black, beautiful green eyes. So we tried, and they were both eating their cat grass together, so we thought it would be fun. We got them oat grass. Mine died, my oat grass, because I just learned this thing that when you have a plant you have to have holes on the bottom of the planter. I didn’t know that. Apparently oxygen is a thing with plants. So I was like, okay, fine. But anyways, Tara did not enjoy that conversation. And I have a cat, a neighbor next door, named Minnie, who has come into the house before and who’s lovely, and Tara did not try to attack her, so that’s progress. Maybe she’ll be into a Zoom call, we’ll see. Anyways, I’m just happy about the fur babies. Amira’s not on this week and we miss Scooby, who often barks in the background, so we miss you, Scoob.

Jessica, can you get us started, please?

Jessica: Yes. So on Friday’s episode of ESPN Daily, which is hosted by Mina Kimes, who’s a former guest on this podcast, Kimes was interviewing Bomani Jones. They were talking about athletes and activism and the impact of George Floyd’s murder on sports. A lot of the discussion was around New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees because in an interview with Yahoo Finance earlier in the week, when asked by the reporter if he would support players kneeling on the sidelines in the upcoming season, Brees resorted to the answer he’s been giving for years now: “I will never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag of the United States of America or our country.” So he just showed off that he wasn’t listening and didn’t understand.

His comment drew outrage far and wide, but specifically from some of his teammates, including Malcolm Jenkins. Brees then made two public apologies on social media Thursday and reportedly apologized to his teammates both privately and during an hour-long virtual team meeting – which is how we get to Mina and Bomani on Friday. Mina asked Bomani if he thought all of this would cause NFL owners and the league itself to do any introspection. Bomani responded, “They will look inside their house as much as we the media make them, because the one thing the NFL has is a sycophantic media that doesn’t push them on anything.”

In a long Twitter thread responding to Brees’ comments, Martellus Bennett, former NFL player, ripped the NFL for its racism, noted the performative bullshit of the linking arms moments in response to players kneeling back in 2016, and said that there are so few Black coaches because the NFL doesn’t need them in order to operate in the same way it needs Black players. Then he tweeted, “Sports media folks play a roll in the framing of negative narratives around black players too. A lot of you muthafuckas are racist as well.” We’ve talked repeatedly on this show about the issue of the lack of diversity within sports media – it’s almost 90% cis white men. It’s incredibly homogeneous, you can’t overstate that. And as both Jones and Bennett said, it’s bad when it comes to the NFL.

But then consider the MLB. I was thinking this week about how only a single MLB player – Bruce Maxwell – took a knee. He no longer plays in MLB, and this week he was on the A’s Plus podcast where he said, “Where were these people when I took a knee? Where was this support when I was pushed out of the MLB?” I think he was talking about the media as much as his fellow athletes. I felt all of this acutely this week as I was watching mainly men, mainly white male sports reporters on my Twitter timeline tweeting about dumb shit like college football transfer news or even the negotiations to get major sports leagues back during the pandemic, because we are still in a pandemic. Those banal, unimportant tweets were sandwiched between videos of police brutality, calls to action against racial injustice, and images of thousands and thousands of protesters in every state in the US in the streets protesting.

And then I thought, of course, that’s what those dudes are doing. This is what sports media has trained them to do: to report about the sport and the game itself divorced from the context of the society around it. Sports reporters and their editors and bosses, the vast majority – we can’t say this enough, who are cis white men – like it that way. They are comfortable with it that way. And so I kept thinking, is sports media at all equipped for this moment? And even the moment when we finally get sports back. I just don’t think they are. They are often sycophants, they are often racist, and they just don’t care enough to push against the people in power. I’m genuinely concerned about what that will mean for what stories get told and how they get told. What are you all thinking about this?

Shireen: Linz?

Lindsay: Yeah, I’m concerned too, Jess. I think for me this was highlighted very clearly in the Bill Simmons podcast last week. I actually grew up listening to the Bill Simmons podcast, I used to listen to it actually regularly just kind of out of habit, until recently…He’s had Ryen Russillo on a lot more frequently, and I don’t enjoy Ryen Russillo’s commentary usually. I haven’t been listening, like I said, for the past year, but I saw on Twitter that there had been a discussion between Bill Simmons and Ryen Russillo on the Bill Simmons podcast – which is like the #2 sports podcast in the world, I’m talking millions of downloads every episode – and their episode came out last Monday, it was a talk they had on Sunday about the protests. It was these two white guys who are so used to shooting the shit and thinking their opinion is the most important one in the world, and that their opinion is God and that everyone just wants to hear exactly what they have to say on the matter at hand.

They’re so used to talking about current events like they’re sports, gaming, talking about things like they’re winners and losers and breaking it down to sports that their conversation about the protests was downright fucking insulting. I mean, it centered the looting more than it centered George Floyd. I don’t think they even brought up George Floyd. But they were not equipped at all for this moment. They’ve both come out since and apologized that we should’ve had experts on, we did not do this properly. Bill even said that we misread the moment and he’s like, “Well, I’m 50, it’s hard to change my ways.” [Jess groans] Yeah, which is just fucking ridiculous.

To me it just showed that not only is sports media very lacking so much diversity, but it’s filled with opinionated white men who have been told that everyone is dying to hear exactly what they wanna say. They’ve built these egos up, they’ve built these brands up, and they’re used to doubling down on bad takes. They’re used to feeling like the star of the show. In moments like this, that utterly fails everything. A really appalling moment in the podcast was when Ryen Russillo actually praised Bill Simmons for the diverse hires at The Ringer, which if anyone has ever paid attention knows it’s just not true. The Ringer union actually, a lot of employees came out and were like, this is not true, we have a huge diversity problem here. So I think it just goes to show, like for Ryen Rusillo, even having one Black voice was like, oh, you are so progressive. I dunno, it just really disgusted me. I think it made me very scared.

We have seen a lot of ESPN personalities come and speak out, which has been interesting because, as we know, when Jimmy Pitaro came on at ESPN they did a big shift away from talking about anything that wasn’t Xs and Os on the field. It’s been good to see a lot of ESPN writers and hosts openly engaging…Maria Taylor has been phenomenal, Michael Eaves on SportsCenter, Sarah Spain has done a lot of great work on her radio show, Bomani Jones of course, Mina Kimes. But it is interesting, because they’ve spent the past 2 years actively encouraging their employees not to do this. It’s like, okay, well now you see…Are we gonna get an apology for how fucked up that was? Are we gonna get an apology for how you treated Jemele Hill? Where are we going from here? So I’m gonna be very curious to see. What I would like to see is not only newsrooms diversify but I’d like to see the white people who do have the microphone not only pass the microphone, passing the microphone is super important, but also doing the work to learn about these issues and being able to actually engage on them on a real level. Study racism the way you study the fucking statistics or the NFL plays! You’re smart, you have the capabilities, do the work.

Shireen: Crystal Dunn of the US women’s national team has been incredibly articulate and astute in sharing specifically what needs to be done, and she pointed her fingers at sports media, which needed to be done. She underlined and she challenged racist language, coded, language, especially about helping, like, commentators. She specifically said, “Help me change the narratives and stereotypes of Black men and women in sports. Throughout my experience in soccer I often see Black athletes praised for their speed, strength, and tenacity. Even when those traits accurately describe an athlete, from an early age we’re led to believe that’s all we can contribute.” She literally challenges the “pace and power” – those are in air quotes – ideas in soccer reporting, which we saw so much of, and I know this team really was irritated about it. That was just something that I thought was really helping and something in this moment that sports media can do better. Because it does contribute – language is a huge part of narratives, a huge part of contributing to racist systems and racist narratives and tropes. It’s garbage.

But on another thing, I just wanted to pivot quickly to something I was thinking about this week. The Athletic laid off, I think, 6% of its staff. So at the same time I think that I feel bad for colleagues that don’t have a job, definitely, or furloughed or laid off. We saw it earlier, we saw it with Fox, SB Nation, etc. But at the same time it’s like, is this a rebuilding moment? Is this a moment where we can do better? Because you do see lots…All over my timeline are white reporters and newswriters talking about how they’re very sad for their colleagues. I’m like, that struck me, the racial disparity between those that were mourning their colleagues’ jobs and sad for the industry, and then I’m like, well, we don’t have those jobs to begin with. You know, I get it. There is a place to feel bad for your colleagues who don’t have work, 100%. But there also needs to be a place to discuss this moving forward. Do we want change or do we want to constantly report on the idea that change needs to be made. I don’t know. I don’t have a solution, I’m just pointing that out. Brenda?

Brenda: Yeah, it’s interesting because I’m always trying to think about the relationship between sports media and journalism more broadly. What has happened since this administration, the Trump administration, has gone after journalism in particular, you know, coming from the top down. Lindsay mentioned Jemele Hill and her firing in 2017 which began when she basically criticized the president for being a white supremacist which, of course, is actually true. That’s reporting. But in this case it seems like the entire system is so jeopardized, as you’re saying, to make it very difficult for people to speak up. In sports just like all other parts you have the question of access right? You’re out there saying something critical and the people who are reading it are the very people who give you access to interviews and things, and I see this in football all the time.

There are journalists, and I don’t need to name them, who will believe and reprint and rewrite whatever FIFA source is anonymous and gives them a line here or there. These are perfectly intelligent, critical people, and you’re like, “How is this happening?!” Essentially, you know, they need access. If those people are the gatekeepers then they walk this very fine line. I though the New York Times decision to run this op ed by Senator Tom Cotton, which was a pro-fascist piece advising that the military is sent everywhere and anywhere by the executive to “restore order,” was a perfect example – and sports media as a kind of sub-section of this – of the ways in which this structure works. He uses his very powerful position to get an op ed, which is a slap in the face…I just wanna shout out, there was a very good In the Thick with Maria Hinojosa and Julio Ricardo Varela who have said, “We have tried to get a New York Times op ed – and all writers of color have – for years!” And this fascist just throws it out there! And it has to do with his power in other realms. I just find it really disturbing and upsetting to see this attack on journalists more broadly.

Shireen: Jess?

Jessica: Yeah, and one way that we could reimagine is what does it look like if you’re not doing your job based solely on whether or not you’ll have access to the people at the top afterwards? And that’s scary as shit, I admit that, I understand why people are making those choices when it comes to their job, but maybe that is something that sports media really needs to grapple with. What does this look like if we are not giving all of our power over so that we can have some access to these people who lie to our faces all the time and are pushing narratives…It’s not like the NFL doesn’t have NFL.com, they’re putting their shit out all the time, they have their own media infrastructures.

It also makes me think about how this is such a moment, right? This is not at the same level at all but pushing people to think about police and our society and what does it mean if we defund them? We need to be thinking big in this moment because we’re going to have a chance to rebuild things and I’m very nervous that on the other side of this sports media’s not going to do that work and that will be such a huge missed opportunity. We are seeing how important sports are to our society and our culture and how we tell these stories right now, and it will be such a fucking bummer if these men mess this up on the other side.

Shireen: Up next, Brenda’s interview with Anita Asante.

Brenda: This week we are honored to have with us at Burn It All Down, Anita Asante: Chelsea center-back, English international, and Olympian. She is also ambassador to Amnesty International UK and ambassador to Show Racism the Red Card. Anita, thank you so much for being with us today.

Anita: Yeah, thank you for having me.

Brenda: We obviously at Burn It All Down are very focused by the tragic murder of George Floyd here in the US and we’ve known Black Lives Matter is more extensive than the United States, but it seems that particular case really had resonance on a global level within the sports community. What’s your perception of that from where you are?

Anita: Well I guess, you know, I’ve wondered to myself why has this particular murder, basically, become a global movement at this period of time. I realize that perhaps because we’re in the midst of a pandemic where everybody is at home, and maybe haven’t got the same distractions that we’re used to, has allowed people to really zone in on this incident and the global challenges that people are facing on a daily basis because, as we know, police brutality, systemic racism has always existed. Will Smith, I think, he said, “The only difference is it gets filmed now.” Which brings it to the fore that much more, makes it resonate with us that much stronger. I think that’s really the main reason that anyone looking at that video or any instances of police brutality, I think we can all share a common sort of empathy, you know, that we know right from wrong. We know there’s an injustice when it comes to these matters. I think it’s clearer more than ever that there is just antiblackness that exists globally and is something that we all need to work towards changing.

Brenda: Mm-hmm. What sorts of activities and conversations has there been in England? Is there a tendency as there is in some places to say, “Well, look how racist the US is, but we’re doing alright?”

Anita: Yeah, I think that’s a lot of what I’ve been seeing as well through media publications, on social media, about shifting this narrative to try and maybe make the US look worse than the UK. But the point is you know, both nations – and I’m sure other nations across Europe as well – have been complicit in the systems that we are surrounded by, living within every day. It’s not enough to be like, “It’s their problem, not ours.” I think that problem is sort of exacerbated because we’ve see the knock-on effect this case had within the US in terms of the protesting and everything else that’s come with that, you know? In the UK protests have also begun; it’s happening in Paris, there’s been a monopoly effect because there are Black people all over the world in the diaspora as well that experience these daily microaggressions or these injustices.

Brenda: Do you see anyone in English football or any of the football clubs that you’ve been watching that you think has gotten it right?

Anita: Well, I mean one positive thing is to say that lots of sporting outlets, institutions, brands, clubs, individual players have found their voices and are speaking up about the issue, they are lending their support, they’re encouraging other people to lend their support and also giving out vital information to other people that are active in protesting and trying to create actual tangible changes. The point is that people don’t want tokenism either, like, it’s great that we have symbolic messages that are projected online through social media, through television and broadcasting, but the point is we want all of these institutions and outlets, brands and sponsors, to also show a commitment beyond this point that they are gonna include in their strategies within their own businesses ways to support and improve the conditions for BAME people.

Brenda: And where do you see, if you sort of analyze global football insofar as we can, where do you see the places that really could produce real change if something was done differently? What steps do you think they should take?

Anita: I think the really important thing to say is that it’s great that clubs and the institutions that govern them are also saying that they support the Black Lives Matter movement and things like that, but at the end of all of this it’s important that they don’t look hypocritical because we know racism has existed within football for decades and it’s still an issue, and we’ve struggled to see a real commitment from the macro level bodies such as FIFA, UEFA, take real action. Really, if we’re going to make tangible changes that people can feel and see then it has to happen on that level where decision-making happens, where policymaking happens, that directly affect players and fans and supporters and anyone who really engages with sport. We need to find the consolidation between what we know to be human rights in line with sport, because I think we’re past the time where we say sport and politics or sport and human rights don’t go together.

Brenda: For listeners that may not know, what is the representation like of people of color in the sporting or football institutions?

Anita: I think that moves to the point to say that we really need to find ways to diversify. As a player that’s been playing over 20 years, I’ve realized at the latter stages of my career now, isn’t it amazing that I’ve never really had a Black coach or other staffers, including other ethnic minorities that exist within a whole array of roles within football which, you know, physios, referees, whatever. That’s a problem. If that’s a problem at that level where predominantly you only really see ethnic minority and Black engagement at grassroots sports levels, then you can imagine when it comes to managerial positions, positions that have influence and real power, that can be executed, that isn’t a diversification of gender, race, or anything else in those spaces. It’s really hard to imagine that they can relate and understand the challenges and the needs of people that don’t necessarily look like them or speak like them or whatever, that are directly affected by the decisions they make.

Brenda: Yeah, I mean, getting to the question of intersectionality, June’s also Pride Month. June has also been a month where we’ve seen a lot of leagues that have decided to cancel the women’s competitions and not the men’s competitions. I imagine it’s hard, you know, it’s impossible to sort all of these things out separately because they’re all happening together. How do you see that intersection between Black Lives Matter and Pride Month and some of these women’s football issues?

Anita: I think we’re in this moment of opportunity, I guess, as well. We’re seeing a lot of social activism across all levels clearly related to race, in this case, gender and sexuality. I think even when I talk about the LGBTQ+ community, something as symbolic as the rainbow has also been hijacked – in the UK, at least – for lending support to our essential workers and healthcare workers who are obviously doing an amazing job related to COVID-19, but there’s a risk as well. I know there’s a lot of people from the LGBTQ community that feel that by them utilizing the symbolic messaging from the rainbow flag is a way to also erase the struggles and the challenges that are still faced within the LGBT+ community, and change it into something else which can lead to the erasure of what it means to be a part of that community.

So that’s also one challenge, but on an intersectional level where women have been sort of left behind in the progress of men in all sections of society and life and the workspace related to wages and value and things like that. We’re in a precarious time as well because in some senses we’ve made a lot of progress in trying to bridge some of these gaps or get women closer to these opportunities, there’s also a real threat to all the progress that’s been made, and that’s including obviously women’s sport, where we’ve always kind of been secondary to the priorities of men’s football and the sort of economic part of the men’s game. I think now it’s about maintaining visibility for women and women in sport and LGBT+ communities so that the continued progress many have been striving towards doesn’t get lost.

Brenda: Obviously you were probably disappointed but also maybe there’s a lot of nuance and conflict in cancelling the women’s Super League, which was done just over a week ago?

Anita: I agree, and it’s super complex. As a player of course from my own selfish perspective I want to go back and play, and we wanted a good and fair way to end the season that’s based on just competitive performance, of course, but I think many players, including staff, understand the challenges in the circumstances we’re facing within a pandemic and, you know, the state of the women’s game. By that I mean the state of the women’s game as we know, the foundations are already quite rocky because of the chronic underinvestment to begin with. We don’t have necessarily the greatest of bases to support all the clubs consistently in the way that would be needed in order to make sure that we could return to play as safely as possible. By that I mean all the testing and everything else that would need to be done in order to ensure that we’re medically taken care of.

Having said that, again, it goes back to the point that women’s sport has not ever been prioritized in the way that it should as well. So even regardless of the situation that many clubs are facing at the elite level, if women aren’t placed as part of the agenda and supporting all the work that’s been done to get us the platform we have now, then of course we run the risk of regressing and nobody really wants that. I think that’s the challenge as well because we, you know, we need to make sure the right people are also in having the discussions with the people at executive levels that are making these decisions. But then I could also say the challenges are different in the UK and sometimes it’s hard to make comparisons like that of Germany who have returned to football, who have managed to support the women’s Bundesliga as well. Their own national pandemic was handled very, very differently to that of the UK as well.

Brenda: It’s so important what you’re saying about the structures to keep players safe and how that’s different. I remember, I believe it about a month ago, I interviewed the Colombian player Vanessa Córdoba and she explained that one test was as expensive as a women’s player’s monthly salary. So what do you do? I mean, obviously it shouldn’t be like that, but the fact that it is like that means it was very difficult for them to imagine being able to get the foundations and the structures in place so that they didn’t feel really worried about going back.

Anita: Yeah, of course. Like I said, the challenges are so vast in different ways because as women we have different needs as well, it’s not that easy to look at the scenario in black and white because of course we know that the women’s sport platform needs to be raised and it needs to be better supported and given greater visibility across all platforms – broadcasting, media, online and other ways. But for example, if you’re a female athlete who also has children and you may have to travel or be in a lockdown situation away from your family for a long stretch of time just to complete a season, that could also have lots of pressures, mental health challenges…Or if you have to take your child with you then you have to be tested, they have to be tested.

The tests are costly but they also aren’t the most comfortable tests to have, and you can imagine a child having to do those tests…I think a range of things that needed to really be addressed and I think there were people on the other side of the coin that would’ve looked to it and said, “Let’s cancel the women’s league,” maybe because it was easier, as well. And that’s not right, but that’s also to say that it was one less stressor for them to have to deal with in the magnitude of circumstances of the football period where we also know that men’s clubs in lower tiers in Championship and even in the Premier League with the smaller market economy would struggle, or maybe not exist.

Brenda: Over the past week we talked a little bit about player activism. There’s also been, besides statements, some players that have expressed solidarity with Black Lives Matter on the pitch, including Marcus Thuram, Lilian’s son, who took a knee in the Bundesliga this past weekend. When you see that, how do you react to that as a Black player yourself?

Anita: I mean, when I saw those actions I felt very proud of them and I felt empowered, I think. It empowers lots of people that they represent, and I think it shows that before athletes were looked at as “just shut up and play, that’s your job” but they’re people and they also have opinions and they also see things and have experienced things that they also probably can relate to.

Brenda: Well Anita Asante, thank you so much for being with us on Burn It All Down. I hope you’ll be back with us soon.

Anita: Absolutely, thank you for having me.

Shireen: Linz, can you get us started on the statements?

Lindsay: Yeah, we touched a little on this last week but this week I think has been the week of The Statement – capital The, capital Statement. It’s been pretty much a requirement for leagues, for teams, for brands including Gushers [laughs] – I’m very serious about the Gushers thing – to come out with statements saying they are about the moment. Some have been good statements that openly address police brutality and systemic racism, that reflect internally about things that the individual or brand can do to improve to help dismantle systemic racism specifically within their own ranks or their own persons, and other look like they could’ve been copy and pasted from the Pride statements that they might’ve had ready to go. There are very general ones about equality and love and peace…So it’s been very interesting.

I think on the one hand I wonder what is even the point of these statements – do these statements matter? And I think it’s right to be skeptical of all these statements because on the other hand I’ve talked to a lot of people including a lot of Black female athletes who are really looking to organizations, to coaches, to teammates to see what they are saying in this moment. If a statement is the bare minimum you can do, are you even passing that bar? I think there’s a dichotomy here and I think everyone can feel differently about whether or not these statements are useful or not, but I think it’s also interesting to look at what is a good statement and what is a bad statement and who has at least made a good statement in this moment. I think we’re gonna go around and share some of the ones that we have appreciated, that have felt genuine, that have felt like they rose to the moment, and ones that have not.

Shireen: Yeah, thanks Linz. I think that one of the things, and I just wanna preface what I’m saying – I’m not a judger of statements, this isn’t like America’s Got Talent and we’re going around…I mean, Brenda would clearly be Simon Cowell in that spot…That’s not what’s happening here. I'm saying language is important and we also see the value in growth. I’ve learned a lot to give space for growth in that way, that’s something that has changed throughout my time on this show, and listening to my co-hosts and how smart they are. Amira was just like, everyone has a journey, and you have to be able to do that. I say that a lot because it’s important to reiterate, not to only say how smart we are on the show but just to say things can happen and in this moment it is important, because in this time we’re seeing things that have never happened before.

So I tweeted this out earlier this week and I stand by this tweet: I did not have white hockey dudes on my who’s woke bingo card, and white hockey men have wowed the fuck outta me because Braden Holtby of the Washington Capitals, just…Mr. Holtby, where have you been! Because his statement was unbelievable. He talked about Potomac River, he talked about the name of the bridge Woodrow Wilson, and he said, and I’m quoting directly from his tweet and Instagram post, and he also said – many of these statements were typed up on notepad on their phones because of the character limitation, but he actually had #BlackLivesMatter – but he talked about the bridge, “a monstrous bridge stands, named after a racist president.” It was stellar. He weaved history into it; we are forever telling people that historical context is everything.

Braden Holtby was either listening to Burn It All Down or he’s got some sports historian friends, because this man just nailed this statement. I think it was really important what he did, so he said, what do I do? He admitted his privilege, and it was just very well done. He says, “America will never be great until all BLACK lives matter.” I think the inflection is very important. Hilary Knight put out something and she also followed it up with a thread of specifically where to donate bail out funds. She put out an incredible array of places one could donate to support community organizations, it was very very good, in my opinion. It sounded very very smart and so I appreciated that, and there’s also an owning of privilege which is very important, and I need to see that. I need to know that you get that.

To my bad…The bad, for me, is easy. In Hockey in Society, which is co-edited by friend of the show and one of my close friends Courtney Szto, she’s a professor and she literally took all the statements and she graded them as a professor would grade. It’s a fantastic fantastic Hockey in Society thing, and I think she meant it kind of as a joke but it’s brilliant. It has over 5000 hits. It was easy for me to find this because the worst one, the hard passes for me were Edmonton Oilers, but the worst were the Saint Louis Blues because the Saint Louis Blues were a definite definite terrible…There was nothing…Oh, it was an F, because the Saint Louis Blues actually mentioned they “stand to work in a better society with those who honorably wear the uniform as they protect and serve all of us.” It was unbelievable, it’s like they’re completely tone-deaf and were refusing to understand that defunding police and police brutality are a huge part of why we’re protesting and what communities are asking for. They nailed it in being terrible. Brenda, give us yours.

Brenda: I feel like it’s not quite my right to give out these cookies, but when you brought up statements, for me white people come to mind, or corporate statements, because I just think that when African Americans or other people of color are putting something out there then it’s more an expression or an explanation or analysis, and white people it feels more like “statements.” So the one I picked was legendary San Antonio coach and friend of the show Gregg Popovich. I guess it only works because he’s done things like supported the immigrant community in San Antonio and defended African American rights to protest throughout his career, the promotion of women, you know? It works because there’s already sincerity built in, I guess, for me.

In it I guess I like that he focused on what white people need to do to collect other white people and focus on that and stop making the work of all of this borne on the shoulders of African Americans. He discusses the nonchalant attitude of the white officer and when he does that he starts to cry and he says, “The only reason this nation has made the progress that is has is because of the persistence, patience and perseverance of Black people.” I felt that was really genuine. I still don’t know that even he in all of his wonderfulness is gonna convince anyone who’s not already, but I think it’s important for the players whose lives he touched, who look up to or respect him or have relationships with him, I imagine. I hope some people would listen to it.

The one that is complete and utter bullshit that we should laugh, deride and criticize is US Soccer Federation. The statement goes like this: “One nation. One Team. United against racism.” That’s the statement. That’s their statement. For people who don’t remember, the reason that their statement is so disgusting is that US Soccer Federation had banned kneeling, the only official ban, bylaw, that occurred after a September 2016 game against the US women’s national team vs Thailand where Megan Rapinoe took a knee. Rapinoe at the time said she would, “respect the new bylaw the leadership at USSF has put forward. That said, I believe we should always value the use of our voice and platform to fight for equality of every kind.” So, US Soccer Federation, I’ll believe your shitty-ass statement when you actually rescind that bylaw.

Shireen: Man. Jess?

Jessica: Yeah, so I’m with Lindsay on this – it does feel like these statements are a bare minimum and that you should be able to do this bit. I think it’s important to, say, educate yourself enough to have a good statement in this moment to show that you see Black people and their experiences and recognize that right now. But I also feel like all this shit’s hollow until there’s any kind of action to back it up and I think it’ll take a while to see if there’s any kind of follow through. We could say so many things about the day of black squares on social media, but anyone who just posted one of those and moved on, right? Like Roger Federer has his black square and that’s basically it. The fucking Washington NFL team whose name is a racist slur posted a black square, right? So until that team changes their name I’m not gonna believe a damn thing that they have to say.

My good example of a white guy is a white quarterback – low bar, here – but I feel like he cleared it. Especially in the week of Drew Brees, it’s similar. This is Matt Ryan of the Atlanta Falcons; they both are white quarterbacks in very Black southern cities, right? So I talked about Brees in the first segment, I don’t even know what else to say about him. Matt Ryan, a week ago, posted on Instagram, “My heart goes out to all of those who loved George Floyd, and all those who have been impacted by similar tragedies. I know that I cannot fully understand the depth and complexity of these issues because of the color of my skin, which is a sad testament to all of the work we have left to do. I know I am only one man, but I also know I am committed to doing what I can.”

So he said that a week ago, last weekend, and then on Friday he followed it up and he wrote a much longer statement and he said, “For far too long, I have reacted to social injustice with empathy and silent support but failed to follow through with active support. I feel the time has come to RESPOND. For ALL of us to respond. I see my city hurting.” So he decided to kick off a fundraiser. He donated $500,000 of his own money and asked other people to donate as well, and he said, “Over the next few weeks, months I'm going to listen to the needs of the black community and get guidance on how I can be most impactful.” Again, low bar here, but he spoke out a week ago, he acknowledged the limits of his experience and his knowledge, he made a commitment and he came back later in the week with the beginning of a plan that involved a lot of his own money. He didn’t address police brutality directly, so he could’ve done a little bit better there, but still. Again, we’ll see what happens with that money and what he continues to do from this point forward, but it just felt like a good start.

Shireen: Linz.

Lindsay: Speaking of action, I think I want to, when we’re talking about who’s doing this right, I do realize that I am biased here, although I like to think I’m hardest on the ones I love. The Carolina Panthers not only released a strong statement, but their owner and coach came out and said they’ll support players protesting in any way they need to, which – I know, I know. What really impressed me was they released a statement a week ago saying they were committed to doing their part in helping end systemic racism and helping the Black community, and this week they ended their relationship – this just ended this Saturday, so a week after their statement – with CPI Security. I think if you’re not from the Carolinas you might not know what a big partner to the Carolina Panthers CPI Security is and how it is engrained in…It’s almost synonymous with the Carolina Panthers. But the CPI founder had released an email that included racist comments by CPI’s founder, CEO Ken Gill.

The Panthers pretty immediately cut ties with the group and they’re gonna be looking for whole new security personnel to be working with, and of course the conversation around how much security is really needed at these games is a different conversation. But I thought it was impressive. It right away showed me you’re making a big business decision, one that might hurt you, one that’s ending a longterm partnership you’ve had because they are not rising to the moment right now, and that’s a good sign. Similarly, Minnesota University announced they’re not hiring any members of the Minneapolis police department to work their games or events anymore. So that’s another statement followed up by an action. We’ve also seen, I just have to give a shoutout to Naomi Osaka and Coco Gauff who have been leading the tennis community and speaking out in ways I really never thought that we would see tennis players speaking out. Coco Gauff has been at protests talking, I think that’s been really powerful. They’re carrying the weight right now and it’s time for everybody else to step up and take some of the burden off of their shoulders.

As far as statements go, the Washington Mystics and Washington Wizards released a very thoughtful and deeply – it almost felt like reported – statement, citing the names of the victims of police brutality, calling the racists murderers, calling them what they are, and going on to talk about ways they’re going to help the Washington, DC community and that’s the type of specificity I would like to see. On the bad side, I’d like to call out two women’s sports leagues who I think really failed. The first is the National Women’s Soccer League who released a statement on June 1st that said, “The NWSL and our athletes, owners and officials stand in solidarity with those demanding justice and equality. Our country simply has to do better and our league will do everything in our power to help advance the change this moment requires.” That could be about anything! [laughter] That could be about literally anything. It doesn’t even say the word ‘racism’ in it. You know, since then the NWSL has been lifting up the voices of its athletes on its Twitter account but I would like to see the NWSL engage with this issue in a much more direct way.

The WNBA has really disappointed me – I wrote about this for Power Plays – but the WNBA has for basically ten days released a statement that was a logo that said “Bigger than ball” and that was it. The WNBA has a history of failing its players at this time. If you go back to 2016 they did not support its players’ protest against police brutality until there had been a lot of blowback to their decisions to fine the players. That trust has not been fully rebuilt. The players are paying attention to what the league does and all we’ve seen the league do so far is release that logo. Cathy Engelbert, after the Chicago Sun Times contacted her and was writing about it, Cathy Engelbert the commissioner released a very big statement that did not specifically mention police brutality and it feels like they’re scared of losing sponsors, it feels like they’re holding their breath and trying to get this summer tournament done in any way they can, and it’s disappointing for a league that is 80% Black women and really has gotten so much press for the social activism that its players have done and has worked to kind of brand itself as a progressive league. So that’s been to me very, very disappointing and I’m gonna be paying attention to what happens next.

Shireen: Onto our favorite segment, the burn pile. Lindsay, can you start us up in flames please?

Lindsay: I can. I’m gonna start with a 20 year old burn [laughs] but it came to my attention this week. It just made me very angry. This week Darren Rovell, a regular member of this segment, he kind of lives here. He tweeted out that it was the 20th anniversary of the Sports Illustrated Anna Kournikova cover and he was talking about how she was the most-searched athlete at the time and a big deal until her career completely fizzled out. I was looking at this cover that he tweeted out and it didn’t look much like a Sports Illustrated cover, it looked like a men’s magazine cover and in it Anna Kournikova is laying down with an off the shoulder kind of wrap on staring seductively into the camera. I started to do some math and I realized she’s 18 in this photo! She’s 18 years old. 18 years old.

I went back and looked at the article, the 11-page article that accompanied this cover, which was a big deal to get a cover, and it is one of the grossest things I have ever ever ever read, which is just really really saying something. It’s got this photo on top and it says, “Advantage, Kournikova” and then inside the headline within the magazine which was written by Frank Deford, a legendary writer, is, “She won’t win the French Open, but who cares? Anna Kournikova is living proof that even in this supposed age of enlightenment a hot body can count as much as a good backhand.” SHE WAS EIGHTEEN YEARS OLD. I just can’t get over this. 18 years old. The article goes on to call her the “jezebel of sweat.” It fawns over her looks…One caption is, “And like that both woman and child, she can also by turns by cagey or guileless, wise or foolish, cocky or dependent, tender or tough, coquettish or direct, beautiful or…beautiful.” This is an old man writing about an 18 year old athlete!

It was captioned, she said, “‘Oh,’ she protests properly, ‘I have things about me that aren’t perfect.’ ‘Things in your looks?’ I ask. ‘Yes, and that’s what I think about, those things. But I am a tennis player. There are thousands of beautiful women, but how many have the ability to play tennis? If I would be ranked 500, no one would look at me.’” At this time Kournikova was around #10 in the world, she had beaten tons of former #1s in the game. She was a good tennis player, and all of these men had already written her off as, you know, a hot model to gawk over and nothing else. There’s an entire two pages of this 11-page article devoted to this 18 year old’s love life. It just…And if people are tweeting out this article uncritically at this point, you’ve got a long way to go. There’s enough flames to reach back 20 years and burn this and burn anyone who is not critical of this type of coverage today. Burn.

All: Burn.

Shireen: Bren?

Brenda: Yeah, I’d like to thank Jackie, @colorlessblue on Twitter, for pointing this out to me. I am burning Advíncula Nobre, metaphorically of course, the president of top flight soccer club in Brazil, Fortaleza. He tweeted out a photograph of two men kissing and says, “This is the Left. If you wanna be gay, do it at home. This is a violent attack on decency.” The ethics commission of Fortaleza is investigating some kind of sanction…Or the disciplinary commission, I’m sorry. It’s a little complicated by the fact that he’s president particularly of the ethics commission of this club. Because of course. This is how men run sports.

For those who don’t know, Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro has mobilized a persistent and violent campaign against Afro-descended Brazilians, the environment, women’s rights, the poor, and, yes, they so often go together, the LGBTQ community. He said he would rather his son was dead than gay. This is taking place in a particular environment, one in which Black Lives Matter is incredibly important in Brazil, pointing out the way in which communities of color are dying at a really fast rate; favelas are traditionally places where police murder and abuse with impunity and target Marielle Franco, the city councilwoman who was gay herself and a Black woman, right, that’s a politician, and you can’t even get justice for them. So I want to to burn the parts of sports that continue to support this disgusting, bigoted and violent government in Brazil. Burn.

All: Burn.

Shireen: I’m gonna go next, and I’m just gonna preface this by saying I did not think we would be in a place where men’s hockey players are doing better than gay figure skaters who are also men. I just didn’t think we’d be here. Like I mentioned, the bar is very low, but people show their own biases very clearly. In this particular case I’m gonna talk about Johnny Weir, who we have have fangirled about on this show, we have previously. So this Olympic figure skater, and I’m quoting an article in USA Today by Christine Brennan, and she followed this story and it said he deleted a tweet that said, “I understand that I’ll never understand. I understand that you’ll never understand. Make peace. Love your people. I shouldn’t have to go to bed with a loaded gun nearby. #ICantBreathe #StopLooting.”

Okay, first of all: what the fuck? Secondly: what the fuck? I just don’t understand any of that. I have so many questions; first of all, I hope you’re okay – why do you have a loaded gun? Secondly, don’t frame looting as the problem. Don’t do that because it’s not true. It’s terrible, it’s the worst possible take. It was very frustrating. He ended up deleting that and, as Christine Brennan reported, was just like, “Just awoke in the night and realized what I did…” A very basic non-apology. I know we’ve talked on the show in the previous segment about doing work and journeys…This is not a journey. This is a terrible terrible terrible Twitter interaction. It’s very possible, and we’ve said it before: just shut the fuck up. I think that’s also okay to do. Don’t ramble and don’t conflate issues and don’t use #ICantBreathe in the same sentence as “stop looting” because that means you don’t understand anything. If you really think this is about windows and storefronts being broken, then you need to really sit down and unlearn, unlearn before you talk. Please. I’m very very very disappointed in Johnny Weir and I would like to metaphorically put all of that into the burn pile.

All: Burn.

Shireen: Jess?

Jessica: Yeah, so I am returning to the NCAA because they’re back on their bullshit. Three former NCAA track and field athletes filed a lawsuit against the NCAA in March in which they say they were sexually abused and harassed by their coach, John Rembao, one of the world’s top high jump coaches. The women say the NCAA enabled his abuse because the association has failed to establish rules addressing sexual misconduct and so has no punishments or deterrence to sexual abuse and harassment. This week in a new filing in the case, the NCAA, worried about a class action lawsuit – because there are so many – said they do not owe students a legal duty to protect them. They’ve asked the judge to dismiss the case. In the filing the NCAA wrote, “This case is not about whether the NCAA opposes sexual abuse and works to support its member institutions in eradicating it—it does.”

But they go on, “This case is about what the NCAA’s legal duty is to take action with respect to sexual abuse on campuses nationwide and, more specifically, what the NCAA’s legal responsibility is for the alleged sexual abuse (all outside California) by one track coach twenty years ago. The NCAA respectfully submits the Complaint is flawed as a matter of law and that all claims against the NCAA and its Board be dismissed and/or stricken.” Perhaps most wildly, the NCAA argues, “Rembao was not the NCAA’s agent and even if he was, the alleged abuse was outside the scope of his employment.” Outside the scope of his employment – what the fuck? Everything about this is so insulting to these athletes.

The thing is, the NCAA might not have a legal obligation here. They’ve carefully crafted their hierarchy so they reap all the rewards and suffer none of the consequences, and that just fucking sucks. The NCAA has long ignored gendered harassment and violence; any changes that they’ve made have been recent, and only because survivors have forced them into a corner, and still they shirk their responsibility at every turn. They aren’t even talking about athletes harming other athletes here, we are talking about a predatory serially abusive coach hurting his athletes, and the NCAA has the gall to say such behavior happened “outside of his employment.” One of the women suing is Olympic high jumper Erin Aldrich. She told Scott Reid at the Orange County Register, “The mission statement of the NCAA is ‘our purpose is to govern competition in a fair, safe, equitable and sportsman like manner and integrate and include intercollegiate athletes into higher education so the educational experience of the student athlete is paramount.’ But the truth is that sexual assault ruins competition and the athlete’s educational experience. If you don’t address sexual assault more intentionally then you’ve failed your mission statement.” Right on, Erin. Burn.

All: Burn.

Shireen: Now, after all that burning, it is time to amplify and lift up some amazing folks. First up, honorable mentions go to the Mexican women’s baseball league that has secured its bid to host the Women’s Baseball World Cup, comprised of top 12 national teams from the 12th-21st of November in Tijuana.

I would like to say a hearty congratulations to Julie Chu and Caroline Ouellette had their second baby girl, Tessa a few weeks ago. This American and Canadian WoHo super couple have an older daughter, Liv. We wish them a lot of happiness and health.

We would like to also offer congratulations to Black Girl Surf founder Rhonda Harper for organizing over 100 Solidarity in Surfing events all over the world to participate actively in Black Lives Matter protests which we’ve seen can be on land and at sea.

Also, Ohio’s BalletMet ballerina Rachel Parini created an Instagram account to lift up Black ballerinas. @chocolateandtulle was started with the intention “to give young ballerinas of color an idea as to what it is to navigate the ballet world as a minority, as well as provide an opportunity for anyone interested in seeing things from a different perspective.”

Also, we’d be remiss to not shout out Coco Gauff for being 16 and being out there publicly and speaking at Black Lives Matter rallies. Can I get a drumroll please?

[drumroll]

Our badass woman of the week has been here before. We would like to offer hearty congratulations to the Brazilian mixed martial arts fighter and legend, Amanda Nunes, for defended her featherweight title last night and beat Canada's Felicity Spencer. Also, in a wonderful display of sportsmanship, Nunes places the belts on Spencer and they hugged to make it more amazing. Nunes’ daughter was there to witness her mother's glory. So, that’s so good. I love that, it’s so good. Speaking of good, what is good? Let’s start. Lindsay, tell em what's good?

Lindsay: Yes. I will say what’s good is it’s been when I’ve appreciated my Burn It All Down family more than ever. You’ve just all been in my heart and I’m not usually the cheesy one, and I’m super uncomfortable right now. [laughter] But yeah, I could say it every week and I don’t because it would be repetitive but I will say this week, just really thankful for the four of you and Kinsey and Shelby. I’ve been at a few of the protests in DC and I think I said this last week but the protesters are what’s good for me.

Shireen: Bren.

Brenda: What is good…Well, first of all, it's the last week of virtual schooling. [cheering] If anybody has had to put their 6 year old in front of a Zoom meeting on their laptop with a pen and paper to take notes, you will know how sad that actually feels. Credit to the teacher but, my goodness, it’s like, having a 6 year old with 5 different Zoom meetings a week and 6 platforms to upload their double digit addition dittos is something that I can’t with anymore. Anymore! The poor thing is like, “Do I have to go to my Zoom meeting?”

Jessica: Aww.

Brenda: It breaks your heart! She’s like, I just wanna go blow bubbles outside! Like, no, do your double digit subtraction! I am thrilled it’s over, I’m so relieved for all of us, teachers included. And also what’s good is Red Hook, New York, this very small town where I live has had wonderful and constant demonstrations with a lot of social distancing and masking. We have that privilege of having space right now and so we’re able to be out there almost every day.

Shireen: That’s awesome. I am grateful for the chicken and waffles that I had for dinner last night – I think I messaged everybody a photo of them, because they were delicious. It’s really important, particularly where I live, to have your comfort food, and I didn’t know this place – it’s not terribly far from me – and I found it in the city in which I live. I actually texted Morgan Campbell, my friend, in the morning yesterday…It’s actually Amira’s fault because she was traveling and had posted a photo of food she was eating, and I was like, I want that. So yeah, I texted Morgan like, “I have an urgent situation.” Of course he’s a very attentive friend, he’s like, “Are you okay?” I’m like, I need chicken and waffles! He was just like, okay. I love that he didn’t shame me, he just thought it was just like a perfectly natural thing that I would say, because of course I would have that emergency! So I found it, it was delicious. Shoutout to Broast Chicken and Waffles in Mississauga at Hurontario and Dundas, it was amazing, it was so good. I met my friend Max; we had a social distance picnic.

I also wanna shout out the Burn It All Down team…It’s been a time, and I just wanna say that I appreciate them very much. Also I get my kids back today and I’m very excited. I’ve been practicing table tennis while they were gone because I’m having difficulty with returning serves so I feel like one week without them is good because then I can hone my skills and shame them considerably when they get back today. I just wanted to offer a shoutout to something really important – I hadn’t attended any protests this weekend, and I wanted to give a very specific shoutout to activists in Toronto including Black Lives Matter and adjacent organizations that are calling out the protests that look really suspicious. That’s important for me and I think grassroots community organizing is so key, so I didn’t and I advised my kids not to go and they did not attend because it was very suspicious the way businesses were boarding up.

The priority in all of this is that people stay safe, in addition to actionable events and participation, it’s the safety of the community, folks. I really appreciated that and I felt heartened by it. There’s ways for us to do other things – spend your money you would’ve spent on food or parking or whatever and donating it to bailout funds or Black businesses and I just wanted to say that I’m holding so much gratitude to the people who are sharing that very very very important information, so that’s what’s good for me. Jess?

Jessica: Yeah, so I wanted to mention the protesters, especially here in Austin. The APD has responded very violently to protesters; sadly they shot a 16 year old in the head with a bean bag and he’s in the hospital. There’s another kid, I think he’s 20, he’s in critical condition; they shot a pregnant woman in the stomach with “non lethal” stuff and it’s been…You know, Austin is a weird space. It’s segregated, it has this liberal reputation, but it has all this really fucked up dynamics around race. I just wanna say I’ve been inspired by the protesters and I specifically want to mention that there was a city council meeting this week, there’s been calls to fire the police chief, it’s all been very complicated. My friend Dan was trying to explain to me who can actually fire this person and I don’t understand…The city council can’t actually do it.

They held a meeting and all these people called in and, I just wanna say, I was able to listen to like an hour and a half of it and I was just very proud of all these people calling up and saying to the police chief that he should be fired, to his face. He tried not to have his face on the Zoom meeting and Natasha Harper-Madison who’s I think the only Black woman on the city council wouldn’t let that stand. She made him turn his video camera on so everyone could see his fucking face. Shoutout to Greg Casar, another city council member who was the first one to say to Manley’s face that he should resign, that he should just do the right thing here. So all of that I felt was good for them this week.

I’ll also mention Amira – she convinced me to sign up for Peloton. I don’t have a bike, I don’t have a treadmill, but you can do a first month that’s free and then $13 after that, but they have a ton of classes that have nothing to do with a bike or treadmill and so I love the stretching, the stretching is phenomenal. I did 13 of those or something this week, and the they have yoga classes, so I have done a ton of that this week, it’s been really good for my mental health. The other thing, I feel like I mentioned this before, but if you’re looking for a cookie and you like chocolate: Smitten Kitchen’s World Peace Cookies are phenomenal and everyone should be eating them all the time. They’re easy to make, I trust that you can do it, and they’re just buttery chocolate, they’re amazing.

Shireen: That’s it for this week of Burn It All Down. Although we’re done for now you can always burn all day and all night with our fabulous array of merchandise, including mugs, pillows, tees, hoodies and bags. What better way to crush toxic patriarchy in sports and sports media than by getting someone you love a pillow with our logo on it. We have a Teespring store, teespring.com/stores/burn-it-all-down. Burn It All Down lives on Soundcloud but can be found on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Play and TuneIn. We appreciate your reviews and feedback, so please subscribe, review and rate us and let us know what we did well and how we can improve.

Find us on Facebook and Instagram @burnitalldownpod and Twitter @burnitdownpod. Or you can email us at burnitalldownpod@gmail.com – my apologies for those that have emailed, there’s a lot of emails, I’m sorting through them very diligently and slowly so, again, apologies if you haven’t received a reply; you will soon. Check out our website, burnitalldownpod.com, where you will find previous episodes, transcripts and a link to our Patreon. We would appreciate you subscribing, sharing and rating our show, which helps us do the work we love to do, and keep burning what needs to be burned. We wish you safety and health and whatever joys you can muster during this chaotic and unprecedented time. As Brenda always says: burn on, and not out.

It is going to take EVERYONE!🙏🏾🌎 pic.twitter.com/JcgP2MWvnM
— Crystal Dunn Soubrier (@crysdunn_19) June 5, 2020