Fashion Spiece

* This article was originally published here

Black athletes face one of the most formidable opponents daily. This foe isn’t affiliated with any college program or professional league. This adversary doesn’t have an arena, stadium, court or diamond that it calls “home.” This invisible enemy is omnipresent and diabolical in its efforts to upend a Black athlete’s goals, hopes and dreams. This nemesis of the Black athlete is … disposability. As a former head athletic trainer at the high school, collegiate and professional levels, I witnessed how precarious and unpredictable it can be for an athlete to compete consistently with maximum effort and be expected to deliver the desired outcome – a win. It’s at the heart of my discussion with columnist Clinton Yates during The Undefeated Presents: A Room of Our Own , which airs at noon ET on Sunday on ESPN. If Black athletes don’t conform to the team’s standards, they’re disposable. Don’t produce on game day or crunc...

It was 1966 in the boroughs of Queens, New York. Ortner “Von” Murray had just immigrated from Trinidad and Tobago to provide a better life for himself and his family. His dream was to pursue a career in business. Almost 55 years later, his grandson Tahir H. Murray is following that same dream and has created an apparel line dedicated to the historically Black college and university (HBCU) experience. Murray is a 22-year-old senior at Howard University who went from studying his father’s and grandfather’s apparel business to watching NBA All-Star Chris Paul wear his own creative designs to working with Nike, all before he graduates this spring with a bachelor’s degree in marketing. A love of apparel is in Murray’s genes. His grandfather opened a shoe repair store with his brother and worked as a cobbler repairing women’s shoes and dress shoes. This store then became a sneaker store when Murray’s grandfather went into business with his s...

Chris Webber’s impact on basketball culture can’t be denied. He was the star player of the revolutionary Fab Five Michigan Wolverines that became the first team to compete in the NCAA championship game with all freshmen starters. With their trendy baggy shorts, black socks and black shoes, they helped change the way fashion was viewed across the college basketball landscape. Now, the former five-time NBA All-Star and current TNT analyst will be teaching a new course at the legendary Morehouse College called Activism in Sports and Culture, which will be hosted on the online education provider Coursera. Webber, who played 15 seasons in the NBA with five teams, looks to inspire the next generation of activist athletes and give context about those who preceded them. “What I aim to do hopefully is to honor guys like John Carlos and Spencer Haywood, to let guys know there would be no Kobe Bryant, LeBron [James] if Spencer Haywood didn’t go to the Supreme Court,...

I n celebration of Black History Month, it’s only right to recognize what’s become more than a trend in the footwear industry: Black women have taken over. And we’re not just talking about women’s-exclusive sneaker releases. At the helm of global sportswear companies, such as Nike, Adidas, Reebok, Puma, Converse and more, are Black women — athletes, designers, executives and creative minds — shaping the culture of the business. The foundation was paved in the ’90s by the early icons of the WNBA, carried on through the 2010s by artists pushing fashion like Rihanna, style icons carving a new path such as Teyana Taylor and a sports legend breaking barriers in Maya Moore. The continued impact of Black women has never been more noticeable than now. From the O.G., who 25 years ago became the first woman in sports history to get her own signature sneaker — a series still relevant today in Retro form — to the Queen joining Adidas for th...

In the summer of 2016, Chris Paul was chilling with his family. The LA Clippers guard had withdrawn from consideration for the U.S. Olympic men’s basketball team and was kicking it at Michael Jordan’s Flight School basketball camp on the campus of UC Santa Barbara. One afternoon, the legend himself was there and CP3 issued a challenge. If MJ missed three shots during a game of Around the World, the whole camp would get free Jordans. No. 23 never missed a shot, the campers went home disappointed and a meme was born: “F— them kids.” It’s hilarious, in that it signifies the hypercompetitive nature of not just Michael Jeffrey Jordan, but to a certain extent, most professional athletes. They aren’t having your noise, no matter what. It’s how they made it that far. In 2021, apparently, the lighthearted meme based on a fun day at a sports camp came to life, when people in a little place we like to call the internet descended to publicly scold...