I love the Olympics! Since I was a kid, I’ve been fascinated by the spectacle of the opening ceremony, the pageantry of the nations, some I’d never heard of entering the arena to engage in contests of strength, endurance, and skill. Nations represented by one or hundreds, they were there to compete. I remember as a child thinking, wow, I hope that guy all by himself wins something.
As a kid it was USA,USA, USA! And I guess for the most part I still want America to win. Here’s what started happening as I got older, who I rooted for was based on the following criteria:
- Black Americans
- Americans with a caveat, if there are African countries in the event like track & field, I may cheer them on
- African Countries
- Caribbean Countries
- Teams with the most Black athletes
- Brown skinned athletes
- The prettiest athlete (I am a man)
This Olympics was special, for the first time I paid attention to the fact that Black is the Global Majority. In my lifetime, fifty years ago it was unheard of to have Black athletes representing countries like Germany, Sweden, and even France.
Until last year, I never really thought about what it meant to be the Global Majority. As a business owner and entrepreneur, we sought Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) certification to level the playing field for contracts with majority white owned firms. We need to start rethinking how we view our relationships…
I must thank Professor Karen Hunter who 5-6 years ago made me truly understand the value of Blackness when I started listening to her of Sirus Urban View. I’d be remiss if I also didn’t mention Dr. Greg Carr, both have enlightened me on the power of Blackness and the value of being part of the Global Majority.
Back to the Olympics, from the diminutive Simon Biles to the towering Victor Wembanyama, the Global Majority dominated these Olympic games, and I was thrilled to watch Black excellence on and off the field of contests. I don’t have any real numbers, but I can almost guarantee the largest faction of athletes that participated in these games was Black!
If you want to know what the world really looks like keep watching the Olympics and remember this, Black is a made-up construct, but the Global Majority is not!
