2023 SJA Symposium: Take A Knee

On Friday, April 28, Bowie State University and the University of Maryland Social Justice Alliance (SJA) hosted their annual SJA Symposium with the theme: Take a Knee - Pursuing Racial and Social Justice in Sports. The 2023 symposium looked to build on the legacy and momentum of the Social Justice Alliance by exploring the intersections of social justice and athletics. 

The event was highlighted by several panel discussions, featuring key Maryland staples including Barry P. Gossett Director of Athletics Damon Evans, head football coach Michael Locksley, former women’s basketball star Marissa Coleman, recently graduated volleyball record-holder Rainelle Jones and Maryland journalism professor Kevin Blackistone. 

Through the different discussions, the panelists addressed racial injustice and inequity and helped participants develop tools and strategies to advance racial justice and healing. Campus and community leaders were also honored at the symposium for their commitment to social justice and activism.

The Social Justice Alliance continued to honor the legacy of BSU student 1st Lt. Richard W. Collins III, who was murdered in 2017 by a UMD student.

Jones was part of the first panel, and as the youngest speaker there, found it to be the perfect opportunity to talk about her beginning stages as a young voice in college sports activism. 

“The ability to speak at Taking A Knee was perfect because I’ve been taking a knee since 2020,” Jones said after the panel. “It’s cool to be recognized as an athlete who can talk about social justice, especially as the youngest one on a panel. It was important to present myself as a young athlete trying to grow in the DEI sphere.”

For a growing activist like Jones, speaking on a panel that both included big-names like Evans and Locksley and emphasized the positive change that is being created at Maryland was a huge honor.

“It was really cool to hear that we are the only major university with a Black president, Black Athletic Director and a Black Head Football Coach,” Jones said. “It’s really great to be a part of a school like Maryland that’s making change. And it was very cool to have the opportunity to speak at the same event that (Evans and Locksley) did.”

Towards the end of the event, Evans and Locksley joined a panel of coaches and high-level administrators to discuss the impact that the SJA has had on their schools and the broader community. 

Evans recounted his initial thoughts about creating and joining the SJA.

“When I first thought about the Social Justice Alliance, I thought about our student-athletes, I thought about our staff, I thought about the surrounding community of Prince George’s County,” Evans said during the panel. “And I asked myself, ‘How could we be a part of something that would really bring us all together?’ 

"I thought it would be a great way to educate the young people that came through our program, as well as our staff,” he recalled. “When you talk about intolerance, when you talk about hate and violence, and then you think of things like restorative justice. When you start trying to build, strengthen and repair relationships, the types of things that the Social Justice Alliance does on a day-in and day-out basis, that’s what we value as an institution at the University of Maryland as a whole.”

Additionally, Locksley spoke in detail about his work as the founder of the National Coalition of Minority Coaches and how he initially came up with the idea during the early stages of the pandemic. 

“I didn’t get to where I am now by myself,” he started as he addressed the audience. “I grew up in an era of the Black Coaches Association where some really strong basketball coaches went out on a limb to lead…They were powerful Black leaders in the sports sphere and they created a powerful organization that became the mouthpiece for minority coaches. As I looked at my career and started going back, I asked myself, ‘Who’s here now to pay it forward?’

"I looked at my career and realized I’m on the back-nine of my career now. So I asked myself how I can help the next Mike Locksley coming up and pay it forward myself. I got on the phone and called guys like Mike Tomlin, Nick Saban, and Buddy Pough, and I told them that I had this thought. The thought was that there’s not a lot of Black head football coaches at the highest level, whether it's the NFL or college football, and I wanted to do something to change that and pay it forward like Coach (John) Thompson did when he walked off the basketball court for Prop 48. So, the National Coalition of Minority Coaches was born in my backyard during the pandemic.”

Those who spoke and attended the panel regarded it as a valuable exchange of ideas that will help the broader communities. 

“Athletes have definitely found a way to make their story known to the public more,” Jones said. “Events and panels like this are becoming more and more common and I think they’re super helpful for the general public. I know I’m so glad I was able to speak and listen to this one.”