Name: Kate Borows-Lai
Social Justice Group: Sports and Equality
Date of Fieldwork: January 19, 2018
Name of Organization: NBA
Person (people) with whom I met and their job titles: Kaitlin Sloane: Events and NBA voices coordinator, public relations, etc.
Type of Fieldwork: Interview
What I did:
We went to the NBA offices on 5th avenue to interview Kaitlin Sloane and have a look at the workplace. The whole thing was about five floors, and every room was basketball themed.
What I learned:
I learned that the NBA is a very welcoming and inclusive organization, unlike the NFL. Ms. Sloane said that the NBA community was very tight, and they had groups such as Dream in Color (inclusion of people of color), Apex (inclusion of Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders), and countless others that make it easier for minorities to feel included. They also have an NBA voices float at the NYC pride parade. They even have celebrations for all these groups, like the pride night that they hold annually. Ms. Sloane is working to get us invited to one of these celebrations! At pride night, people like Hudson Taylor (Athlete Ally founder and a person we interviewed) and Jason Collins (gay NBA player) speak about issues they find relevant and educate people about them. We also learned that the NBA and the WNBA work very closely together, supporting each other and admiring each other’s skills.
What I learned about Social Justice “work” and/or Civil and Human rights “work” from this fieldwork:
Ms. Sloane taught us that in order for someone to start being an activist for an issue they care about, they must be personally connected to the issue. She gave us an example of a breast cancer awareness group wanting LeBron James to sponsor them just because of his popularity. She told them that they would be better off speaking to a player who had a friend or family member with breast cancer so that they could be more passionate about the issue. I agree with this on some levels, but there is an exception. Hudson Taylor isn’t part of the LGBTQIA community himself, and he didn’t have any friends or family members that were at the time that he started to be involved in activism that we know of. However, he thinks that anyone can be an ally of a cause, no matter what their background.
