Welcome to The Black Urbanist Weekly. I’m Kristen Jeffers and I’m currently producing this weekly digital newsletter on my site and via email to share my thoughts, my Black, Spiritual, Southern, Working-Class, Educated, Queer, Femme thoughts on how places and communities work. Think of this as my weekly column, sitting on your proverbial print paper’s editorial page or as so many other of your favorite newsletters do, in your inbox.
This is the 9th edition and this was supposed to be a recap of my Nationals parade experience. And comparing it to the experience of going to the Royals parade in 2015. And it is. But, I’ve been thinking a lot about what it means to be sports loyal and I decided to dig in the vault. And when I dug in the vault, I felt moved to talk about what motivates me to even pay attention to sports. So, here we go.
Sports build community. From pride-of-their-suburb Little League teams to pulse-of-their-city World Series pennant holders to that proud handful of farmhouses who raised that NASCAR driver, sports makes a community.
When I wrote that paragraph in 2015, I thought I was being inclusive. This was deep in the days of me feeling like just having my black Southern (not yet out, but feeling it) femme body at a table was enough. I went on to say in that same post:I grew up in a pre-Carolina Panthers, original Charlotte Hornets, retiring Richard Petty, saying hello to Stormy, but never to a Major League Baseball team of it’s own, Greensboro, NC (also known as Tournament Town).
There were these two mystery Coke (and yes, they were actually Coca-Cola) cans in the hall closet next to my bedroom door. One of them looked normal enough, it was bright red and had white lettering. It did have a wolf-head, and the words National Champions 1983 on them. Clearly, that wasn’t so normal. The other one was bright blue and nobody’s soda came in a bright blue can. The ram’s head and the 1982 national championship it honored wasn’t that weird.I tried being a NASCAR fan for five seconds. No lasting interest in watching cars go around a track. Baseball’s just so much better in person, plus, our beloved Grasshoppers are really the benchwarmers for the Miami Marlins. Too many degrees of separation…
The Charlotte professional men’s basketball team should have never stopped being the Hornets. Major League Soccer shouldn’t give up on us. Having your football team see the inside of a Super Bowl isn’t too shabby though and hockey’s decent. The Canes do have a Stanley Cup, so I’ve felt what it’s like to have your team be national champions.
However, I much rather be at the PNC Arena when the normal HVAC system is operating and I can yell out Wolf and be met with a resounding Pack.And when your arch rivals are only a few miles away, but still get major airplay on ESPN, this is how you choose your favorite sport. I’m a proud alumna of N.C. State University. That is how I chose my team.
So it’s not weird that I’ve been through changes in sports fandom. Sports fandom was always in my blood and it always will be. I grew up going to community baseball and softball games, sometimes walking over with my dad to the one right around the corner from our home in Greensboro, or driving over to nearby Burlington every Friday night with my mom to watch her siblings and cousins play.
Those Friday games would often end with family dinners at the local seafood restaurant. I didn’t appreciate them as much then, but now I see them as us coming together as a family around sports and food.
Much like we do in other years when we tailgate as a family at NC A&T’s homecoming after watching the parade or head to an pre-conference, but sometimes post-Christmas basketball game at N.C. State.
And then I can’t forget the year I was in open gym, putting balls in the hoop, hoping for at least a high school JV shot. My parents vetoed that because of my glasses, but I quickly took my long legs to the track, where I managed to letter for effort my junior year, being one or one of the few competing in the mid-distance races. I’ve stormed the court live on ESPN at an N.C. State game. I’ve seen people in power blue shirts get pushed down in the middle of the student section at rivalry games.
And there was that Super Bowl. But this is really about baseball, so let me get back to that.
I’ll admit that I became a Royals fan just because I saw people appear to come together. Eight-hundred thousand people allegedly, walking through those downtown and midtown streets for hours. Pure urbanism. More people than I’ve ever seen in my life and in a metro area that was comparable population-wise to the one I left, but happened to actually snag that Major League Baseball team. Unlike some folks, I’d already been a Nats fan, kind of as a retort to my family of Braves fans.
However, a couple of years ago on a return visit to KC, a friend of mine who still had to work that day, short-staffed in the thick of the parade crowds, reminded me that everyone wasn’t able to come together in quite the same way. I remembered those reports of people parking on the interstates and walking in streets in front of buses. The streetcar was not open yet and I’m sure even it would have been overwhelmed. And if you were going to work and not going to the parade and not in walking distance of your job…
And it’s not just that kind of reminder, but other, more political reminders that sports fandom isn’t the same for everyone. From the abandoned stadiums that taxpayers are still stuck with, whether or not they can really afford it. From the professional sports leagues that make players feel like they can’t play openly pregnant, or let players be international stars and don’t get their fair financial share. For players that are supposed to just ignore racism on and off the court or field.I’m not alone.
The Washington City Paper talked about the contradictions that come up when a team embraces a full spectrum of fans. For every baby shark sing-along and player encouraging people to read and support indie bookstores (and not go to the White House), there were others who were excited for the invitation to be at the White House, one that has yet to be granted to our other championship team.
And when we were at the parade last Saturday, I felt like something was deeply lacking. Namely any band playing go-go or even just one of the local high school bands (S/O to that drill team though!). I’m happy that they had all the Little League groups, but quite honestly, I was bored. In KC, I didn’t even get as far as the main parade grounds (again, those aforementioned crowds), but when I saw the parade on TV, it looked way more festive. Again, I might have said something different if I was closer to the Royals parade and rally. I could tell that the TV crews in DC had time to close the gaps between player buses and the Geico gekko.
And while we took in some of the rally watching at a TV in the middle of the Pennsylvania Avenue bike lane, we had other plans last Saturday evening and thankfully, Metro was running enough trains to get us in and out of downtown in 30 minutes and when we got out to Hyattsville, and changed our plans again, we found a full Whole Foods and its adjacent parking lot. Hopefully all those street vendors who were competing to get us to buy a commemorative shirt from them, sold enough.
No newspaper will make as bold of an estimate of how many people actually came downtown. However, we are looking at a 2 million person metro area versus a 6 million one with a train system where millions of others could come in within just a few hours.
The City Paper is one of the places I admire because they, like me, can still cover a sporting event, not just write it off as “random sports ball” and still critique things like the name of the Washington football team. I also love The Undefeated for pushing against the limitations that come from their ownership and Jemele Hill for just being herself. The Players Tribune for allowing players to talk through their motivations and contradictions. And of course all those athletes that use their platforms to stand up (or kneel down) for justice.
And in the meantime, I’ll keep going to sports, I’ll keep working out and polish off my racket and I’ll keep nudging all my teams to not only win their games, but to treat their players, and fans, like the winners they are too.
Other Things on My Mind
Speaking of Kansas City, I strongly support the naming of another street after Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The city council voted to change the name in April, but a citywide referendum was placed and voted on on Tuesday that reversed this decision. While it looks like people didn’t want to name any street after Dr. King, I think that there are a litany of streets that could be renamed (my top two choices 39th Street– a key East/West route and J.C. Nichols Parkway, named after a notorious real estate developer who was one of the leading people who pushed federal officials to adopt redlining practices, in a shopping center he built that was originally whites-only). There’s also a Martin Luther King, Jr. Park, and it’s started to get more attention.
Congrats to Reggie Cox for being trusted over the years from being a resident and now executive director of the homeless shelter Charlie’s Place in DC. It’s still rare in any industry, especially in white-led and established organizations, for this trajectory to happen. Many would congratulate him on overcoming homelessness, but honestly, the systems in place that cause so much of that are not on this man. I do hope that he continues to be successful in leadership.
I also congratulate Candace Payne, the black woman realtor who rented hotel rooms for homeless folks in Chicago who were at risk of freezing last winter and is taking larger action so that folks can have permanent homes.
And in Houston, Christopher Senegal for taking his advantages and turning around this block with existing residents and others of lower-incomes in mind.And to Jordan Rhodes for becoming the next licensed black woman architect and continuing that march. Also, another much needed shoutout to friend of the site Katherine Williams for gathering our architectural sisters, and also taking on these documentation projects of black architects and architecture in particular.Not cool, the continued lack of black food critics in media outlets, namely in D.C.
At times it feels like calling these things out is saying that water is wet, but I also finished reading Dorothy Butler Gillam’s memoir reflecting on how she broke the color barrier for black women at the Washington Post, reported on key civil rights movement moments, and helped the Washington Post build a library of cultural articles and a stable of columns from a black woman’s perspective. She helped build what has become the Maynard Institute (and yes, indirectly helped this site and my career), was president of the National Association of Black Journalists during a pivotal moment in its history, coming together with other non-white journalist associations and creating the Unity Convention in 1994 and establishing a program during her last years at the Post to provide technical support to school newspapers throughout the D.C. region. So, there’s hope, folks!
Finally, the United Kingdom recently celebrated its Black History Month and those of us in the States look ahead to February and of course everyday all over the world, this reminder— there is black and gay history.
Before you go…
—Check out the job board. I’m working on a a job board improvement. Look out for that soon. Also let me know if you get any of the jobs or opportunities listed on the board.
—Buy a bag or t-shirt from The Black Urbanist store or greeting cards from Les’s Lighthouse. Yeah, the holidays are here, folks. And these are great black queer woman-owned gifts you can give this season!
— Let me come and talk to you about killing your civic-inferiority complex Book me for a lecture, workshop or both. Also Les, my wonderful life partner and sales director is great at hyping you up, making you laugh and helping you or your organization make radical changes in your life and health Book her too. And listen to my wonderful podcast mentee’s The Crossroads Podcast, which also discusses environmental issues from a black woman’s perspective.
–Finally, encourage others to join you in making a monthly pledge right here. As we close out 2019 and close out the decade over the next year, I’m going to be even more visible and visible about what it takes to do the work. I’m also adding more reward and giving levels and as I promised, you’ll be the first to know about those things. Special thanks to my two newest patrons!
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