Indiana Fever player Jantel Lavander shares her experience of going through the WNBA Athlete to Advocate five-week program.
If Im being honest, I wasnt quite sure what to expect.
Experts in This Article
Jantel Lavender is a professional basketball player for the Indiana Fever.
In 2016, she was named the WNBA Sixth Woman of the Year and a WNBA Champion.
Shes been playing with the WBNA since 2011.
Human rights issues related to race, gender, and sexuality have always been close to my heart.
Jantel Lavender is a professional basketball player for the Indiana Fever. In 2016, she was named the WNBA Sixth Woman of the Year and a WNBA Champion. She’s been playing with the WBNA since 2011.
But how do you even begin to start dismantling deep-rooted systematic prejudice?
I asked him if it was really bothering him and then he went off on me.
What are you doing here?
How can you afford to even live here?
I instantly just started crying.
The world is so cruel.
I wasnt even doing anything.
Another incident happened to me in college when I was playing basketball for Ohio State.
He sprinted after me and said he was going to arrest me for disobeying him.
Jantel Lavender is a professional basketball player for the Indiana Fever. In 2016, she was named the WNBA Sixth Woman of the Year and a WNBA Champion. She’s been playing with the WBNA since 2011.
We stood there arguing for five minutes.
I actually saw him at another Ohio State game a few months later.
He came up to me and told me that I changed his life.
He actually thanked me and said I changed how he approached his job as a cop.
To them, I was just this dark-skinned girl overseas.
Ive been told I am aggressive even though Ive seen my white teammates get louder with a coach.
This happens all the time.
The program teaches athletes how to use their passions to change the world through philanthropy.
It was very eye-opening to learn about the intricacies of philanthropy, which isnt just about giving money.
There are some people who dont believe athletes should have a voice.
They just want us to be quiet and play our sport.
These people look at us as entertainers and not human beings.
I am a human first.Weare humans first.
There are people who watch us on TV, who dont actually like Black athletes as human beings.
That is an oxymoron to me.
Theres a certain expectation of how women should look, move, and be in the world.
So yes, I do believe athletes should use their voices.
But you know what?
You dont have to be an athlete to be a philanthropist.
Anyone can be a philanthropist.
It starts with identifying whats important to you.
What has shaped you and how can you use those experiences to lift up others?
If we all do this and champion each others causes, the world will be a vastly different place.
As told to Emily Laurence.
…
Got it, you’ve been added to our email list.
