Op-Ed: Taking on Cancer and Disparities in the Black Community
I was born into a family of game changers – literally. My father took the field as West Point’s first Black football player. My parents were an interracial couple on the heels of the civil rights movement. And I built a career in a male-dominated sports broadcasting world. While those things have shaped me, they aren’t how I got through some difficult times. I am surrounded by family, friends and love. And that’s what I hung onto when I met cancer.
My dear friend and ESPN colleague Stuart Scott believed in me long before I believed in myself. He was a brother figure who protected me and inspired me. He changed the way we all viewed sports, and he changed my life for the better. He faced his cancer with courage and tenacity, like a fierce warrior in the ring, taking swing after swing.
Stuart asked me to accompany him at the 2014 ESPYs where he was to accept the “Jimmy V Award for Perseverance.” When I got there, I don’t think I fully realized the magnitude of that invite until I heard his acceptance speech – when Stuart began to speak, it hit me… this was his “goodbye.” He died six short months later. It rocked me. Cancer took a trailblazer, but more importantly, it took my friend.
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