If you listen hard enough on some early mornings, you can hear the death penalty coming back.
These are, of course, super fucked-up times. They feature some of the least satisfying I-told-you-so-ing that the species’ history. But, I fucking laugh, yo. Maybe it’s brain trauma from back in the day. More likely I laugh for the reason I gave that LA White chick before she evicted me last summer:
I was born in trouble.
We should ask the whole [team] if they will do something to stand in solidarity with Colin Kaepernick as we say, Black Lives Matter. That was the basic ask.
Time to ’fess up to my twisted kind of privilege. (Be sure to use #brave when you share this post on BlueSky.)
Having little to lose can ease the task of protesting injustice.
The notion that the unsung resistance MVPs might have suburban zip codes. It’s why I thought it a good time to remove the paywall from last year’s podcast conversation with an inspirational soccer coach whom I happen to know.
Growing up middle-class on the Bay Area peninsula, Kruger was not steeped in the history and culture of American protest. The deeper they got into organized sport though? The more there was to lose.
Really into what I’m doing? Contribute to the WCS travel budget.
Fortunately, Kruger’s political awakening came early.
“I was pretty young, in high school, when I started looking around like: Wait a second, I think there are some things out there that are super unjust that I’m starting to hear about,” they said. “But, yes, it probably wasn’t until I was about 20, 21 that… I think [I got] the concept of becoming politicized, really having a political education. A people’s political education, right?
Emily Kruger
I’m not going to say here how this locker room story ends. (Although, you would have heard about what Kruger started if her action had been a rousing success, am I right?) What I love about the long anecdote is their journey to the NWSL. The reactions of Kruger’s teammates speak volumes, and not merely about pro jocks’ purchased silence. The goalie’s embrace of social issues is even more valuable. Theirs is a gently winding road map to a true embrace of activism.
Elective trouble. Necessary trouble.
Prefer to read their questions to my answers? Try this:
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