Sports | the read | Keyona Porshaa`
America already has a propensity in ostracizing black women and attempting to weaponize their confidence against them by misappropriating it for cockiness as a result, preying on their downfall--but then there’s black people and Black Twitter. In the case of sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson Black Twitter got carried away with their attacks on the trackstar after a troll dug up a 2019 tweet where she expressed her opinion towards mother of the Barbs, Nicki Minaj in her role in Barber Shop and furthermore following the completion of her return at the Prefontaine Classic race a few days ago.
All eyes were on Elaine Thompson-Herah as she set yet another record with a time of 10.54 seconds stamping her position as the fastest woman alive only following Flo Jo, next to the other ladies Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Shericka Jackson who captured second and third place in their now usual sweep style leaving Richardson to take last place.
Rather Black Twitter ran away in defense of Minaj and the Barbs on this one or simply just believed that the 21-year old needed some “humbling,” they held no punches in their reaction to how the sprinter fared in her return to the sport. Cancel culture is a vicious animal that fails to consider the complexities of life and its high and low moments, so the culture did not take her abysmal finish lightly. Just months prior almost everyone fell in love with Sha’Carri when they felt her human--when she celebrated herself and her accomplishment in pointing at her time, when she laid in her grandmother’s arms after winning, and when she was faced with reality after using cannabis to cope. Until she exhibited another layer of human--when she remained confident in herself even during a defeat.
Sometime between the release of the #Donda teaser visual which came around mid-July to when the world tracked on past Richardson to the Olympic race is when a media troll went through Richardson’s archive tweets to find a comment she’d made in reference to Nicki Minaj’s role as “Draya” in Barbershop 3. Richardson’s tweet from 2019 was dug out and brought to the “Twitter court of law,” where she expressed that she thought the rapper was “kinda annoying.” Not that she thought Minaj was annoying as a person but in her role as an actor, notably said a few years ago.
The rapper tweeted big praises to her home team and their accomplishments at the Tokyo Summer Games to the sprinters that earned gold, silver and bronze medals: Thompson-Herah, Fraser-Pryce and Jackson respectively. Which bared no harm nonetheless, the tweet following: “#Queentingz u b**hs can't relate. And that’s ok,” possessed an underlying troll tone.
Ironically enough, Minaj is the female rapper that explained the unilateral expectation of women in their respective orbit in her ‘My Time Now’ documentary that, “you have to be like--a beast. That’s the only way they respect you,” she said. “When you’re a girl, you have to be everything. You have to be dope at what you do, yes, but you have to be super sweet and you have to be sexy, and you have to be this and you have to be that, and you have to be nice. It’s like I can’t be all those things at once, I’m a human being.” Practically the same exact thing Richardson has been trying to say since being on culture’s pedestal and experiencing turbulence.
Sha’Carri Richardson went from winning all of us over during her race in June with her bold ginger orange tresses, expressive nails and supersonic speed to being in a heap of controversy shortly after when she found herself suspended after testing positive for marijuana traces in her system.
Richardson, a standout athlete and graduate from Louisiana State University finished the semi final 100m race with a qualifying time of 10.64 seconds at the U. S. Track and Field Trials in Eugene, Oregon earning her an Olympic berth to compete at the Tokyo Olympics.
In strides towards the finish line ahead of the other sprinters she pointed towards the time clock and as if that type of confidence didn’t draw almost everyone watching in she ran up the stairs only moments after finishing the race to embrace her grandmother, kneeling before her and laying her head on her chest. We were witnessing an exchange of hard work, sacrifice and support for an accomplished goal and achieved dream.
Following that triumphant display, almost everyone was fawning over her persona, her story, and her skill: the nails, the hair and lashes, the fight and most of all the confidence. Some comments from YouTube subscribers under her semifinal race via NBC Sports read: “She knows she’s gonna rub people the wrong way with her appearance. I’m here for it. Loving every second,” commented @Ladymystic11.
“No bun or ponytail. Long nails, long lashes. She’s a legend I fear,” @A R commented.
During a post-race interview she revealed that she had lost her mother the week prior and was notified by a reporter while in Oregon preparing to compete. NBC reports that she detailed her year as crazy and found support through her family. “I’m still here. Last week, finding out my biological mother passed away and still choosing to pursue my dreams, still coming out here, still here to make the family that I do still have on this earth proud,” she responded.
In privacy however, Richardson chose to cope with what she calls a “nerve-shocking” blow, by smoking marijuana. She said in an interview with NBC’s Today Show that she is not making an excuse for herself and the way she handled it, she accepts responsibility and will return after her sanction. Richardson has now been humbled by grief and her actions, nevertheless still supported by her community of fans. Black Enterprise highlighted a few tweets via Black Twitter from users outraged over her suspension of marijuana usage.
Journalist Evette Dionne tweeted, “If you’re afraid of Sha’Carri smoking the brakes off y’all, just say that but suspending people for using marijuana--a billion-dollar industry at this point--is ridiculous. I see people attempting to turn this into a ‘Black Americans vs. everybody’ issue. Let’s not. Sha’Carri deserves to run, not matter what country she represents.``
Aimed at the media @_HurdleFloww tweeted, “she found out her mom died from a REPORTER before her races. She went into emotional panic and smoked weed which is legal in Oregon but illegal in this sport. She takes full responsibility for her actions.”
Support for Richardson was also extended from athletes Odell Beckham Jr., Dwayne Wade and more. Nike also decided to stick with the athlete and keep their endorsement in place in spite of all the news regarding her. Furthermore, she was offered a hefty endorsement opportunity from Dr. Dabber, a vaping company specializing in marijuana. Reports show the athlete was offered $250,000 to serve as an ambassador although a decision from Richardson hasn’t been made. She did however, collaborate with artist Kanye West in a visual debuting a track from his upcoming album Donda ‘No Child Left Behind.’ In my opinion, the collaboration makes so much sence seeing as though the two both share the similarity of losing a maternal parent and some form of ridicule from society of decisions made thereafter.
In the #DONDA teaser video scored and edited by West she is sporting a pair of Beats By Dre headphones, her usual vibrant burgundy extensions not a hair out of place, the long claws, her goddess physique branded with tattoos, lashes, and Nike gear.
I can appreciate the congruency between Ye and Richardson because we’ve seen this love spell before. Society loves how brilliant and tenacious your mind is and what you’re able to create of it until we don’t understand some of their actions and decisions--which who gets it right every single time? They both have very strong self awareness but after the misunderstanding comes the weaponization. For Richardson, in the beginning it was praise and black girl magic, another runner won which can still be black girl magic as opposed to a humbling class especially when this woman has had to stand in the face of adversity turn after turn and still believe in herself first that she will be a champion. I do believe there’s a lesson the human in all of us can learn from this.
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