“Anti-Blackness is woven into the fabric of our society” - Jamal Hill
In what might be one of our most self-reflective episodes yet, for the last installment of Swimming Week Johanna and Derek are joined by Jamal Hill, a Black Paralympic swimmer who is currently training for the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games. We talk to Jamal about what it was like growing up not only as a Black person in the US—where he suggested he only felt comfortable speaking openly about his feelings about racism in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder in 2020—but as a black swimmer with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease in a predominantly white sport. Jamal credits the YMCA in providing opportunities for Black and other minoritized Americans to learn how to swim, and discusses the challenges that CMT poses for his training and the importance of advocating for sporting opportunities for children with disabilities. Importantly, Jamal’s grasp of the broader, 600+ year history of Black swimming thanks to Kevin Dawson and Jeff Wiltse’s historical works, underpins his perspective on the extent to which American swim has or has not changed (hint: not much).
In the second half of the episode, Jamal shares his thoughts on a wide variety of topics, from what it meant to learn about and present to public audiences on IG TV about Dawson’s historical work on the African diaspora’s rich aquatics history, to the limitations of white swimmers’ activism today (with huge props to Simone Manuel, Naomi Osaka, and others). He moreover offered a compelling perspective about elite swimming’s future in the US: should it remain an NCAA sport when it does not generate revenue, or should swimmers branch out and pursue different training opportunities beyond the college model? You might be surprised at his answer!
You can find Jamal Hill on Instagram @swimuphill and on Twitter @swimuphill, and his foundation to teach one million children how to swim, Swim Up Hill, here.
Jamal Hill’s fantastic IG TV video for the USA Master’s Swimming Instagram account can be found here.
Jamal references Kevin Dawson’s Undercurrents of Power: Aquatic Culture in the African Diaspora, which can be found here, and also Jeff Wiltse’s Contested Waters: A Social History of Swimming Pools in America, here.
For a transcription of this episode, please click here. (Credit @punkademic)
After listening to the episode, check out our most recent pieces:
“Red-Scare Rhetoric Isn’t Gone From Histories of American Sport” in Jacobin Magazine
"Canceling the College-Football Season Isn't Enough" published in The Chronicle of Higher Education.
“'We are being gaslit': College football and Covid-19 are imperiling athletes” in The Guardian
“Canceling the college football season is about union busting, not health” also in The Guardian
__________________________________________________________________________
As always, please like, share, and rate us on your favorite podcast app, and give follow us on Twitter or Instagram.
@Derekcrim
@JohannaMellis
@Nkalamb
@EndofSportPod
www.TheEndofSport.com
Episode 101: Athletes Reimagining College Sport
Episode 100: Critical Sports Scholars on Parenting and Youth Sport
Episode 99: Towards a Public Sociology of Sport
Episode 98: Dehumanization and the NFL Draft with Ben Natan
Episode 97: Universities Are *Choosing* Not To Pay Academic Bonuses to Athletes
Episode 96: On UCLA Gymnastics, Iowa Football, and Ted Lasso
Episode 95: On Transphobia in Capitalist Sport with Karleigh Chardonnay Webb
Episode 94: Pandemic Sport, Convoys, and the Anti-Trans Movement in Sports
Episode 93: Hard Truths about Football with Chris Borland
Episode 92: Institutional Failure and Harm in Canadian Gymnastics with Kim Shore, Part II
Episode 92: Institutional Failure and Harm in Canadian Gymnastics with Kim Shore, Part I
Episode 91: The Wide World of Surveillance in Sport with Courtney M. Cox
Episode 90: Football and Fairness with Johnny Stanton
Episode 89: The NLRB Memo with Jennifer Abruzzo
Episode 88: Athletic Labor and #Striketober
Episode 87: Fighting for #FairBall in the Minors with Harry Marino
Episode 86: On Coercion and Resistance in College Sport
Episode 85: #Striketober with Max Alvarez
Episode 84: The Sports Media Problem with Adam H. Johnson
Episode 83: Progress for Whom? With Britni de la Cretaz
Join Podbean Ads Marketplace and connect with engaged listeners.
Advertise Today
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Coach Carvalho Podcast
From Corner2Corner
Golf Podcast: next on the tee
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The MeatEater Podcast