Black women have always played an integral role in the fight for racial justice. This is a fact worth repeating again and again—because it is so often lost in conversation. Black women have often been reduced to background players in the very long, historical struggle for freedom. Frederick Douglass, Martin Luther King, Jr., John Lewis, Bayard Rustin—these are all names of leaders and activists people generally recall with ease. Lesser invoked (if at all) are the names of women like Daisy Bates, Claudette Colvin, Dr. Pauli Murray or Anna Julia Cooper. To further illustrate this point, while several black men (both from African countries and the United States) and three black African women have won the Nobel Peace Prize Award, no black American woman has ever won the award. It’s as if our contributions to peace and justice work have been rendered completely invisible.
In today’s context, Black Lives Matter is a modern movement that was founded by three black women—Alicia Garza, Opal Tometi and Patrisse Cullors. Most people do not know their names. When their work, which was meant to call awareness to the topic of police and state violence against black people, is raised, there is an overwhelming focus on men. Black women are relegated to the role of only having a stake in the fight insofar as being the mothers of black boys and men.
With the protests of NFL players squarely in focus on the American public, this is a good time to not only have meaningful discussion about police brutality and racial injustice but also to acknowledge that black female athletes in the WNBA have been holding their own protests for over a year to raise awareness on this issue.
[On July 9 2016], four members of the Minnesota Lynx — a dynasty on par with the Warriors — held a pre-game press conference to talk about police violence in the wake of the killing of Philando Castile by a Minneapolis-area officer and Alton Sterling by two Baton Rouge, Louisiana, officers. The four members of the Lynx — Maya Moore, Seimone Augustus, Lindsay Whalen, and Rebekkah Brunson — wore black shirts with the phrase “Change Starts With Us: Justice & Accountability.”
In response, four Minneapolis police officers immediately left their security posts at Lynx games. The move was condemned by Minnesota Police Chief Janeé Harteau, but defended by Lieutenant Bob Kroll, the president of the Minneapolis Police Federation.
These were just the start of the protests. The following day, members of the New York Liberty wore T-shirts during their warmup which said #BlackLivesMatter and #Dallas5. They then switched to wearing plain black shirts and wore these shirts during the warmups for the next several games they played. Players from other teams joined in. Sadly, their activism wasn’t rewarded with national and international media attention like their male counterparts in the NFL. Instead, they were fined by the WNBA for violating its uniform code.
[On Wednesday, July 13, 2016], the league fined the Liberty, Mercury, and Fever $5,000 each and every individual player on those teams $500. The fines were for violating the league’s uniform policy that requires players to exclusively wear official league uniforms supplied by the league during and before all games and practices. The policy does not allow for players to alter the uniforms in any way.
The teams pushed back on the fines—citing, in part that since the league is almost 70 percent black women, they felt deeply impacted and knew it was important to use their platforms to call attention to the Black Lives Matter movement and police brutality. The fines were dropped eventually. And, the women kept going.
On September 21, 2016, the Indiana Fever locked arms and knelt during the national anthem. All of them. Including the non-black players. They were joined by two members of the opposing team, The Phoenix Mercury.
And even into 2017, they persisted. After the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, five different teams stood during the anthem and locked arms—“symbolizing unity against bigotry, hate and racism.”
So why do we not know that this has been happening, and that it started before Colin Kaepernick ever sat and then took a knee in protest? For starters, it’s because women’s sports haven’t had the money-making ability of men’s sports and they don’t have the same fan base. Millions of dollars get poured into the NFL annually with the average player making well over $6 million. Meanwhile, the average salary in the WNBA is $51,000. This speaks to how women’s labor is consistently devalued and underpaid. It is also a reminder how black women’s activism is routinely pushed into the shadows. While the country remains riveted by black players in the NFL who suddenly overnight grew a conscience and decided to resist, not police brutality, but instead Donald Trump, these black women have been unwavering in their commitment to black people’s liberation.
Black people have been activists for racial justice forever—likely almost since the very first time we set foot on these shores. Black athletes are certainly no exception. However, it takes a particular kind of bravery to put yourself on the line for racial justice, especially when the stakes are high. Black women in the WNBA have been doing that—putting their careers and money on the line since last year. It’s long overdue that we recognize their activism and that of all black women who have always been in the forefront of the human struggle for peace, social and racial justice and freedom.