Gwen Berry Will Not Be Silenced, Protesting Racial Inequality in 2019 and Finally Being Understood

“Take accountability. We are tired of educating you. We are tired of getting racially profiled and getting racially discriminated against. We're tired of being killed. We can't do both. White people have to take the burden...Help us because we can't do it by ourselves."

Last year, Gwen Berry raised her first on the podium of the Pan American Games after winning the gold medal in the hammer throw. Her protest against racial and social injustice in America landed her a 12-month probation from the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee. After nationwide protests broke out at the end of May, I caught up with Gwen for a Sports Illustrated interview in which she said she would do it again in 2021 once her probation is up. On social media, she demanded an apology from USOPC CEO Sarah Hershland after they released a statement saying the USOPC stands "stands with those who demand equality." They had a phone call where Hirshland apologized for the effects of the decision to put Berry on probation. 

Berry grew up in Ferguson, Mo., and marched with protesters in St. Louis in 2014, after Michael Brown was shot and killed by former police officer Darren Wilson. The death ignited weeks of unrest and conversation about race relations, but Wilson was never prosecuted. In 2020, Berry has taken to the streets to protest George Floyd's death at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer.

Gwen Berry will not be silenced. In this podcast, we discuss what the past few weeks have been like for her, conversations among elite athletes possibly protesting in 2021 and much more.

Read my Sports Illustrated interview with Gwen here: https://www.si.com/olympics/2020/06/02/gwen-berry-us-olympic-thrower-athlete-protests-george-floyd

Gwen's donation suggestion for the Black Lives Matter movement: https://buytheblock.com/

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