Inequality and Athlete Activism: Past, Present, & Future

In this one day mini conference, students, faculty, and scholars from across the St. Louis region will discuss the past, present, and future of inequality in sport and athlete activism. Commercialized spectator sports are a powerful platform where debates about race, gender, political ideology, and other urgent issues are contested in American life, and figures such as Jackie Robinson, Arthur Ashe, Billie Jean King, Meghan Rapinoe, Colin Kaepernick, Serena Williams, and LeBron James have used the spotlight of athletics to speak out against inequality and injustice.

Keynote speaker Joseph Darda of Michigan State University will share research from his latest book project, Athletic Revolutionaries: Jack Scott and the Jocks Who Brought the Left to the Locker Room, and the event will also include the presentation of the Levey Family Research Prize for archival research in sport.

Free and open to all, RSVP requested.

Co-sponsored by WashU Libraries and the Sports & Society Program Initiative in American Culture Studies.