LOS ANGELES — In the epilogue of "Forty Million Dollar Slaves," William C. Rhoden's 2006 book critiquing the relationship modern-day Black athletes have with the sports industry, he writes: "The challenge for African American athletes in the twenty-first century, with unprecedented resources at their disposal, is building on the foundation, expanding, and — most difficult of all — working as a team to create a new Promised Land."
The day before he was assassinated in Memphis, Tenn., the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke of the promised land in his last sermon: "Whenever Pharaoh wanted to prolong the period of slavery in Egypt, he had a favorite, favorite formula for doing it. What was that? He kept the slaves fighting among themselves."
And here was Rhoden, through the prism of King's last speech, encouraging Black athletes to cease petty infighting and instead come together to achieve true liberation. Here was an invitation to help redefine what was possible while acknowledging what made such ascendance impossible.
