NASSS 2018 Conference - Vancouver

In 1939, Billie Holiday first performed “Strange Fruit,” a musical cry on the lynching of Black bodies and racial injustice in the southern United States. Holiday often used her platform to illuminate social injustices. Similarly, sportswomen like Althea Gibson, Wilma Rudolph, and Wyomia Tyus, influenced and supported by rhythm and blues singers like Holiday, used their platforms to raise awareness of injustice and inequality. Contemporarily, sportswomen of color often collaborate with musicians to illuminate social injustices; however, their efforts are either overlooked, silenced, or disproportionally amplified with negative consequences. For example, the Women’s National Basketball Association’s (WNBA) Minnesota Lynx who protested the shooting of Blacks and supported Black Lives Matter, efforts were deemed disruptive to the game which nearly resulted in association fines until fans exclaimed in outrage. Papers in this session will explore the experiential benefits and challenges; triumphs and failures; and bridges and barriers in illuminating social justice issues as Sportswomen of Color.