Rapinoe holds court: OL Reign and USWNT star takes center stage for HBO special
OL Reign and United States Women’s National Team forward Megan Rapinoe is arguably one of the most outspoken athletes walking the earth today.
So it makes more than enough sense for someone of her stature to host the latest HBO Sports special “Seeing America with Megan Rapinoe”. In the half hour program, Rapinoe was joined by Congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, journalist Nikole-Hannah Jones, and television host Hasan Minaj.
The four gathered to talk about the current state of our country and when you look at everything going on, you can easily see that there are no shortage of topics that could and can be discussed. From the election in November to social justice movements rising around the country, a 20+ minute conversation easily could’ve gone on for another hour or two.
The discussion began with a take on intersectionality and how we as Americans are facing that, especially here in Washington State. As an ongoing pandemic, meshed with the Black Lives Matter movement has made what was a national issue, arrive on the front doorstep of many in the Pacific Northwest.
From there, the conversation turned to the tired mantra of “Stick to sports” as the intersectionality of sports and politics has hit what could be seen as an apex in the country. The group quickly points out that one of the biggest sporting events in the world, the Olympic Games is and has been used for political reasons.
After briefly discussing sports, the conversation comes back to a national scope and the Black Lives Matter movement and its historic uprising nationwide over the summer.
AOC quickly points out that usually with large uprisings, regime changes and how things are done change and structural norms are dismantled in a way. However, there have been no changes as the group addresses.
One of the most important moments is when the group discusses injustices and briefly goes through the history of injustices that helped shape America. After Minaj cracks a joke about how America might be in the “downfall section” of its Wikipedia page, AOC makes a point that we may be in a shift, as seen in the video below.
While I enjoyed the conversation I was left wanting a little more from the conversation and hope that there will be a few more episodes to come from this. You can check out the show on HBO or any HBO streaming platform.
This story was originally published August 5, 2020 at 5:30 AM.
