Call out the instigator, because there’s something in the air
We’ve got to get together sooner or later, because the revolution’s here
And you know it’s right
Released in May 1969, Thunder Clap Newman’s “Something in the Air” hit the charts nine months after UCLA basketball star Lew Alcindor and other prominent college athletes chose not to participate in the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City.
Tommie Williams and John Carlos won gold and bronze medals, respectively, in the 200 meters then donned black gloves and raised the “Black Power” fist on the medal stand as the Star Spangled Banner played. The players who skipped the Games were ripped by the predominantly white sports media. Williams and Carlos were stripped of their medals and ordered out of the Olympic Village.
There indeed was something in the air in October 1968.
Forty-seven years later, about 30 Black football players at the University of Missouri told this nation and those that run collegiate athletics that “the revolution’s here.”
On Saturday, November 7, these gallant, young Black heroes informed their coaches and the world that they would not practice or play until Timothy Wolfe, the university system president, resigned or was removed from office and graduate student Jonathan Butler ended his 10-day hunger strike.
Wolfe had been under fire for his tepid (really non-existent) response to repeated racial incidents on the Columbia campus and Butler’s protest. A group of activist collegians, including members of ConcerendStudent1950, blocked his car during the Homecoming parade.
With Saturday’s game in Kansas City against BYU just five days in the future, dozens of faculty members refused to work Monday morning. Then, a tearful Wolfe resigned. Butler tweeted his hunger strike had ended.
The NCAA awoke Tuesday in a new world – one in which student athletes had more power than at any time in the past.
Dave Zirin, sports editor of The Nation, said Monday, “We now have a rumble through the entirety of college sports. I’m sure it is being discussed (at NCAA headquarters) in Indianapolis.”
Zirin said the Mizzou Black players’ actions are important for “what it says about race and power on college campuses.”
He said Black students comprise 7 percent of the campus population, while the football team is 69 percent Black.
“What you see there are people who are often defined as being powerless. We think about them in terms of powerlessness. Here, you see an exercise of that power,” Zirin wrote.
“Things grind to a halt if (players) say, ‘We’re not going to do this anymore if our demands are not met or at least discussed.’”
Zirin said the players’ strategy to force coach Gary Pinkel’s hand was brilliant: “They said, ‘Either stand with us or against us.’”
To his credit, Pinkel did not threaten to revoke scholarships and throw them off the team. It is my guess that Pinkel was informed that Wolfe would either resign or be fired on Monday and that led him to stand with the activist players.
Mizzou player Grant Jones tweeted Monday afternoon, “Huge thanks to Coach Pinkel, the rest of the coaching staff and our Mizzou family for supporting us in this movement!”
It is irresponsible to come to the conclusion that if Mizzou was 9-0 instead of 4-5 the players would not have taken a stand. Those that choose to believe that are trying to downplay the resolve and bravery of the players who have now made history.
Howard Bryant, ESPN senior writer, was standing with Michael Sam on campus when Wolf resigned. He said Sam’s response was “this is what happens when athletes get involved.”
Bryant said the biggest lesson that other universities should learn is that “you had better listen to people. They do have power and they can use it.”
“This is not an eight-week story. I’m told there is a climate here, in which many Black students feel marginalized and it has been like this for many years,” he said.
SEC Network analyst Paul Finebaum said while Missouri is 4-5 and will not play in the SEC Championship game for a third consecutive year, “the players and Coach Pinkel scored the biggest win of the season.”
As for the future at Mizzou and in other college athletic departments, Zirin said, “We’re in a new stage.”
“When (the late) Woody Hayes resigned (after punching a Clemson player during a bowl game) he was making $42,000 a year. Pinkel makes more than $4 million, but the player situation is the same, if not worse, because of frequent travel. Players have power. If they didn’t know it before, they do now.”
And you know it’s right
Released in May 1969, Thunder Clap Newman’s “Something in the Air” hit the charts nine months after UCLA basketball star Lew Alcindor and other prominent college athletes chose not to participate in the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City.
Tommie Williams and John Carlos won gold and bronze medals, respectively, in the 200 meters then donned black gloves and raised the “Black Power” fist on the medal stand as the Star Spangled Banner played. The players who skipped the Games were ripped by the predominantly white sports media. Williams and Carlos were stripped of their medals and ordered out of the Olympic Village.
There indeed was something in the air in October 1968.
Forty-seven years later, about 30 Black football players at the University of Missouri told this nation and those that run collegiate athletics that “the revolution’s here.”
On Saturday, November 7, these gallant, young Black heroes informed their coaches and the world that they would not practice or play until Timothy Wolfe, the university system president, resigned or was removed from office and graduate student Jonathan Butler ended his 10-day hunger strike.
Wolfe had been under fire for his tepid (really non-existent) response to repeated racial incidents on the Columbia campus and Butler’s protest. A group of activist collegians, including members of ConcerendStudent1950, blocked his car during the Homecoming parade.
With Saturday’s game in Kansas City against BYU just five days in the future, dozens of faculty members refused to work Monday morning. Then, a tearful Wolfe resigned. Butler tweeted his hunger strike had ended.
The NCAA awoke Tuesday in a new world – one in which student athletes had more power than at any time in the past.
Dave Zirin, sports editor of The Nation, said Monday, “We now have a rumble through the entirety of college sports. I’m sure it is being discussed (at NCAA headquarters) in Indianapolis.”
Zirin said the Mizzou Black players’ actions are important for “what it says about race and power on college campuses.”
He said Black students comprise 7 percent of the campus population, while the football team is 69 percent Black.
“What you see there are people who are often defined as being powerless. We think about them in terms of powerlessness. Here, you see an exercise of that power,” Zirin wrote.
“Things grind to a halt if (players) say, ‘We’re not going to do this anymore if our demands are not met or at least discussed.’”
Zirin said the players’ strategy to force coach Gary Pinkel’s hand was brilliant: “They said, ‘Either stand with us or against us.’”
To his credit, Pinkel did not threaten to revoke scholarships and throw them off the team. It is my guess that Pinkel was informed that Wolfe would either resign or be fired on Monday and that led him to stand with the activist players.
Mizzou player Grant Jones tweeted Monday afternoon, “Huge thanks to Coach Pinkel, the rest of the coaching staff and our Mizzou family for supporting us in this movement!”
It is irresponsible to come to the conclusion that if Mizzou was 9-0 instead of 4-5 the players would not have taken a stand. Those that choose to believe that are trying to downplay the resolve and bravery of the players who have now made history.
Howard Bryant, ESPN senior writer, was standing with Michael Sam on campus when Wolf resigned. He said Sam’s response was “this is what happens when athletes get involved.”
Bryant said the biggest lesson that other universities should learn is that “you had better listen to people. They do have power and they can use it.”
“This is not an eight-week story. I’m told there is a climate here, in which many Black students feel marginalized and it has been like this for many years,” he said.
SEC Network analyst Paul Finebaum said while Missouri is 4-5 and will not play in the SEC Championship game for a third consecutive year, “the players and Coach Pinkel scored the biggest win of the season.”
As for the future at Mizzou and in other college athletic departments, Zirin said, “We’re in a new stage.”
“When (the late) Woody Hayes resigned (after punching a Clemson player during a bowl game) he was making $42,000 a year. Pinkel makes more than $4 million, but the player situation is the same, if not worse, because of frequent travel. Players have power. If they didn’t know it before, they do now.”
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