CrossFit has been awkwardly and very noticeably silent on racial injustice, EZ Muhammad makes some podcast appearances, and Rogue Invitational’s digital competition is coming soon.
Good morning and welcome to the WODDITY podcast for news about CrossFit. We are a daily podcast, Monday through Friday, doing CrossFit news in five minutes or less.
My name is Ben Garves and today is Wednesday, the 3rd of June, 2020. Don’t forget, links to all of these stories are in the show notes of your friendly neighborhood podcasting app, as well as on the new WODDITY.com.
What to Know: Rogue Invitational Digital Event
Not this weekend, but next weekend will be the digital version of the Rogue Invitational. 37 athletes, from Chandler Smith to Katrin Davidsdottir are participating, including 2019’s Fittest Man and Fittest Woman on Earth, Mat Fraser and Tia-Clair Toomey. Cash prizes for athletes range up to $50,000 for first place finishers and the event can be live streamed on Rogue’s YouTube channel.
Now – what will this entirely digital event look like? Will it be pre-recorded workouts put side-by-side? Will athletes somehow all be simultaneously streaming workouts over a Zoom call? I have no idea. But if we know Rogue, we know it’s going to be good. Stay tuned on the WODDITY Podcast for updates as we have them.
CrossFit’s Silence During Racial Turmoil
One of the most heartbreaking moments of yesterday’s BlackoutTuesday was the ongoing silence of CrossFit, Inc. While hundreds of prominent CrossFit athletes and media members, brands, and nonprofits shared in the campaign, CrossFit was noticeably silent on the topic. It appeared to be business as usual for the organization, as they touted the launch of a new Twitter page and campaigned for a book that paralleled their health cause.
Each day that passes is another opportunity for CrossFit to speak up against racial injustice in our country. They have the ears of millions of people around the globe. They’ve weighed in on everything from corruption in our nutritional guidance to the importance of gender equality and a transgender athlete’s right to compete in the division of their true identity. We understand that this is not an easy topic and it may take time to find the right words. But continued silence from the organization will say tenfold about the future of the community and its relationship with racial diversity.
In the community, I personally shared any BlackoutTuesday post from major athletes to WODDITY’s Instagram story, which ended the day with over 100 blackout posts. Also a quick reminder – if you are an ally but not actively participating in protests, please avoid the use of the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag to make sure it is preserved for individuals organizing on the ground.
Now Is a Time to Be Loud about Injustice
Yesterday’s event was a great start, but it’s important to remember the work doesn’t end with a moment of silence – there’s real work ahead of us. It is no longer enough to just think “I am not a racist” – our ability to change the world depends on us speaking up and reaching out. If yesterday was a moment of silence for many, then let today-onward be a moment of LOUDNESS. If there’s one good thing we can learn as a majority-white community in this moment, it should be that it is not okay to be quiet about racial injustice. It is our job, our moral responsibility, to be LOUD about this. We need to be vocal about the importance of equality. We need to reach out to those without the racial privilege we’ve been born with. We need to say something when we see something that doesn’t adhere to our ideal of having a nation of true equality. Just being “not a racist” is not enough anymore. Please help spread the word.
EZ Muhammad on Racial Injustice
For those looking to further their education on the topic and to better understand what you can do to be the catalyst for change in our community and our gyms, EZ Muhammad made appearances on both the Talking Elite Fitness podcast and the Make Pods Great Again podcast yesterday. I think he did a great job with John Wooley and Niki Brazier on Make Pods, talking about what we can do as a community to change. Links to both of those are in my show notes.
EZ Muhammad on Make Pods Great Again
EZ Muhammad on Talking Elite Fitness
And that’s it for the WODDITY Podcast for News About CrossFit on Wednesday, June 3rd. If you’re grateful for having this podcast every morning, there is an easy way for you to show your gratitude. Give us a five-star rating and write a quick review. It means the world to us that you’re here and you appreciate the content. Thanks for listening. For WODDITY, I’m Ben Garves. Behave yourselves out there.
