Thanks to the work of Dr. Harry Edwards, we have come to understand that, far from being regarded insulated and isolated from life’s serious concerns, sports are infused with society’s cultural and political. Dr. Edwards will discuss this and its significance for our current political and social climate.
Harry Edwards is a founder of a social movement with international relevance and reach, the Olympic Project for Human Rights, which led to the now-legendary Black Power Salute protest at the 1968 Mexico City Summer Olympics. He’s been a consultant diversity for all three major U.S sports. Dr. Edwards was with the NBA’s Golden State from 1987 through 1995. The programs and methods he developed for dealing with issues and challenges facing professional football players were adopted by the entire NFL in 1992.
Dr. Edwards, a scholar-activist, is a national spokesperson for this revolution in sports and is now considered the leading authority on developments at the interface of race, sports and society, and a pioneer developing the sociology of sport as an academic discipline.