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This past year, we have seen fan groups mobilize to shift conversations within sports in unprecedented ways. For decades, Indigenous advocates have pushed for teams with appropriative and racist names and mascots to change them. More recently, several of these teams’ customer bases accelerated that process by uniting in demanding change.

Fans have pushed forward vital conversations and supported important issues, like equal pay for women in soccer. The WNBA’s Atlanta Dream even rallied their fanbase to oust their Trump-supporting owner and change the franchise’s trajectory.

In “When Sports Fans Change the Game,” I wrote about fans using their platforms to rally, object, and opine.

After over a year of no fans in the stadiums, sports leagues have had an opportunity to reflect.

Sports may have once been considered venues for escapism, but they have since become important public spaces in which athletes are supported by fans to discuss their experiences and struggles.

Fans have the power to ensure that sports are inclusive of all the people who love them. More than ever before, fans are in a position to demand accountability, and many know that fighting anti-Indigenous and anti-Black racism and Islamophobia is not just about performance—it's about action.

—Shireen Ahmed

Click on the images or titles below to learn more
A Black man embraces a Black woman who is sitting on a kitchen countertop. The woman is looking at the camera.
Artist Jorian Charlton on the meaning of the Black family photo album and the essential nature of these archives

BY JORIAN CHARLTON
(3 minute read)
A man, in the background and mostly out of frame, holds a large guitar. A smaller man in the foreground stands at the start of a curvy golden path, drawn in place of the strings of the guitar, which leads to a dandelion in the distance.

My job title was personal assistant, but all my duties pertained to Harvey’s collection. Provenance was everything. A purchase had to be like a royal marriage, the lineage assured.


(15 minute read)
A man, in the background and mostly out of frame, holds a large guitar. A smaller man in the foreground stands at the start of a curvy golden path, drawn in place of the strings of the guitar, which leads to a dandelion in the distance.

In old age, I had to come to terms with the loneliness I’d felt all my life

BY SHARON BUTALA
PHOTOGRAPHY BY LUCY LU


(10 minute read)
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Black and white photos of Shireen Ahmed, Angela Misri and Jonah Brunet.
This week's newsletter was written by Shireen Ahmed, produced by Angela Misri, and copy-edited by Jonah Brunet.
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