When society looks at athletic giants like Marshawn Lynch, Steph Curry, or Deion Sanders, it loves to reduce them to a single script: the 'beast' to be feared, managed, or objectified. On this episode of Black in the Stacks, I sit down with Dr. Gary F. Green,II, a former college athlete turned author, to look at how these iconic figures frustrate those racist cultural boxes. We talk about womanist theological ethics, embodied spirituality, and how athletes can break free from moralized frameworks to reclaim their true physical agency.

Dr. Green shares insights from his journey across sports, the Black church, and higher education and how he incorporated what he learned from Black stand-up comedians to break down these heavy dynamics in his book, “Playing the Game: Embodied Brilliance Beyond the Moral Limits of Race in Sport.” The book also examines everything from the double-edged sword of athletic tropes to the revolutionary power of play.

Dr. Green is a professor, consultant, and a curator of conversations that expose hierarchies of power that play out in plain sight. He is also the designer and founding director of Racial Intelligence Systems at United Theological Seminary, a three-tiered reconditioning program designed to develop racial acumen among the faculty, staff, and students.

CONNECT WITH DR. GREEN

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drgreenideas/

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Web: https://www.greenideasconsulting.com/about

Book: https://www.fortresspress.com/store/product/9798889833581/Playing-the-Game