Sports enthusiasts in the U.S. are likely to recognize the name, but for those of you in other parts of the world, probably not so much. The WNBA (professional women's basketball) isn't nearly as popular as the men's league, but certain attributes are claiming front page news. For all the wrong reasons, I'm afraid. There is tension, conflicts, hate, vitriol and even violence amongst some of the star players. Some of the tensions apparently are rooted in race.
But the article isn't about the women's basketball, but a recent social media posting from one of the star players. Sophie Cunningham is an All-Star player in the league who has a significant impact on not just basketball but women's athletics. She has a no nonsense attitude and is one of the most unapologetic and impossible to ignore women in sports.
As she has consistently done in the past, Sophie emphasizes personal growth over political identity. This past Wednesday, a day after the mid term elections, Cunningham reposted a diatribe from Andy Frisella on Instagram.
"One of the strangest things about our culture is how much faith we have placed in elections to change our lives and how little faith we've placed in our own ability to do the same. People will spend months arguing about who sho lead the country while spending zero time considering how they could better lead themselves—and THAT is a much bigger problem than most people realize," Frisella's post read.
"Because the strength of a country is ultimately a reflection of the character, discipline and standards of there people who make it up. That means you. Politics is downstream of culture. We can keep changing the people in charge, passing new laws and arguing over which party has the answers—but until we change the culture fostering, producing, and tolerating the problems we have as a society, noting fundamentally changes." Personally, I would like to add solving the problems we have as a society as well.
"A population of weak unhealthy, uninformed and dependent people are a hell of a lot easier to control than a population of strong, healthy, educated and self-reliant people. There is no election, politician, policy or law that can substitute for that—and the best thing about that is the same behaviors that make you a better American also make your own life better quickly. If we want a better America—it starts with better Americans. There is no other way. Personal excellence is the Ultimate Rebellion."
Cunningham responded to and rebuked some people commenting on her post, as she then added a different perspective to her story. It was a blunt quote from boxing great Mike Tyson.
"Social media made y'all way too comfortable with disrespecting people and not getting punched in the face for it," the post read. I'm sure we've all experienced this phenomenon.
Cunningham is well-known for being unafraid to make her opinions known, on and off the court. This season she made it clear that she supported the separation of biological men playing in women's sports, a controversial topic here in the U.S.. But her opinion was grounded in the belief in a collective humanity, rather than focusing on political disagreements after the election, unlike some of her WNBA peers. She has claimed in the past that she likes to remain in the middle when it comes to politics, listening to both sides and making informed decisions from there. Apparently, she's doing just that... Bravo, young lady, bravo!
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