A Conversation with David Leonard about the Super Bowl, Colin Kaepernick, and the Politics of the Black Athlete

Sunday, February 3, 2019

A Conversation with David Leonard about the Super Bowl, Colin Kaepernick, and the Politics of the Black Athlete

David Leonard is Professor in the Department of Critical Culture, Gender and Race Studies at Washington State University, Pullman.

He is the author of numerous books and articles on race, politics, popular culture and sports including After Artest: The NBA and the Assault on Blackness.

David explains how sports are inherently political, why Colin Kaepernick is viewed as such a threat by the NFL and White America, Black Lives Matter and resistance by "taking a knee" at sporting events, the black athlete as a social and political figure, the insincere and problematic neoliberal politics of Nike's 30th anniversary "courage" ad campaign, as well as Tim Tebow, white privilege and hypocrisy.

On this week's show, Chauncey DeVega challenges the myth of billionaires and capitalism as uplifting the world's poor and being saviors for humanity and shares how Donald Trump is now the White House sex tour guide who lies (even always, again and often) about Barack Obama.

At the end of this week's show, Chauncey shares two happy stories. The first is about a working class man who just won Powerball. The second is a wonderful story about a 3-year-old boy who was lost in the woods and saved by a friendly bear.

This week's podcast with David Leonard can be listened to or downloaded here.

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Who is Chauncey DeVega?

I am a political essayist, cultural critic, educator, and host of the podcast known as "The Chauncey DeVega Show".

I have been a guest on the BBC, National Public Radio, Ring of Fire Radio, Ed Schultz, Sirius XM's Make it Plain, Joshua Holland's Alternet Radio Hour, the Thom Hartmann radio show, the Burt Cohen show, and Our Common Ground.

I have also been interviewed on the RT Network and Free Speech TV.

I am a contributing writer for Salon and Alternet.

My writing has also been featured by Newsweek, The New York Daily News, Raw Story, The Huffington Post, and the Daily Kos.

My work has also been referenced by MSNBC, The Washington Post, USA Today, The Atlantic, The Christian Science Monitor, the Associated Press, Chicago Sun-Times, Raw Story, The Washington Spectator, Media Matters, The Gothamist, Fader, XOJane, The National Memo, The Root, Detroit Free Press, San Diego Free Press, the Global Post, The Lost Angeles Blade as well as online magazines and publications such as Slate, The Week, The New Republic, Buzzfeed, Counterpunch, Truth-Out, Pacific Standard, Common Dreams, The Daily Beast, The Washington Times, The Nation, RogerEbert.com, Ebony, and The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Fox News, Breitbart, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Juan Williams, Herman Cain, Alex Jones, World Net Daily, Twitchy, the Free Republic, the National Review, NewsBusters, the Media Research Council, Project 21, and Weasel Zippers have made it known that they do not like me very much.