Black Reads: "Playing the Game" Edition
Maybe it's time we stop playing the game altogether, what would life for Black people look like if we collectively decided to opt out. This is a curation of options written by thinkers.
The last prompt that I gave everyone in the Salon on Sunday was, “How do you personally play the game?” I thought it was a clever prompt to wrap up the end of the Book Club Study on Playing the Game, but what I didn’t expect was that this question was going to piss everybody off. And honestly, I get it.
When will we get the opportunity to opt out of this game, especially because let’s be honest, no one asked to play. The chat was so active based on this prompt I told everyone if they wanted to flush out their response more and publish it, then I would dedicate this week’s Black Reads newsletter to the topic.
It took a little bit of bullying, but y’all pulled through and as promised, this week’s newsletter is curated with intention and care as we decode and opt out of this game we have been forced to play.
“Wearing eight roles as one person.” When you think about personas and how they are created by us to protect us as we navigate in a world that is designed to oppress us, how many roles do you play in the game? Denise Jackson walked us through her personas and how they have played the game over the years, and the lessons learned from each of them. And that was something important that I would invite us all to reflect on too, what have we learned from our personas?
We often armor up to protect ourselves as we play the game to later realize how the guard only kept us small and in line. Playing by the rules of the game is what keeps us in modern day slavery, and I know that’s a direct way of saying it. However after you read this one by Joy Path you will start reflecting on your life and observing how your old personas kept you in line playing the game by the rules presented. And for many of you I think you will see for yourself how much you have evolved out of that persona and started playing the game by new rules.
Now, this is the post that sparked this whole newsletter because Shannon | Ink & Afterglow posed a few questions in the comment section during the Salon that had me realizing we are all collectively over playing this damn game. And this was the million dollar question that did it for me, “Why should I participate in a game that never wanted me to win?” Damn.
The man of the hour, Gary F. Green II, PhD, answered the question in the way in which I thought many of us would. And I think it’s important for us to understand that the ways in which we view the game will continue to shift as we change our positions in the play itself. Thank you again Dr. Green for sharing your book, Playing the Game, with the Blackstack community.
If you are interested in the replay or the prompts that sparked inspiration for this week’s exclusive Black Reads newsletter, here is the Salon replay post.
February's Blackstack Salon
Today was the wrap up of the Blackstack Book Club study for Playing the Game: Embodied Brilliance Beyond the Moral Limits of Race in Sport. A special thank you to Gary F. Green II, PhD for writing this cultural relevant book and sharing it with the Blackstack community.
Love this issue and prompt!
I want in on this conversation and movement!