Social Conversations Webinar: “Athlete Activism” Set For February 22

NEW YORK — Columbia Athletics is set to hold Social Conversations: Athlete Activism, on Monday, February 22 at 7 p.m. ET. The webinar will be moderated by Dr. Frank Guridy of the Columbia University Department of History along with a panel featuring Alton Byrd ’79CC, Nzingha Prescod ’15CC and Tyler Holmes ’18CC discussing the importance of activism in sports. This is the first webinar in a series of social conversations taking place this winter and spring.

Click here to register for the event. For more information contact lionstickets@columbia.edu.

About the participants

Dr. Frank Guidry
Specializes in sport history, urban history, and the history of the African Diaspora in the Americas. His forthcoming book, The Sports Revolution: How Texas Changed the Culture of American Athletics (University of Texas Press, 2021) explores how Texas-based sports entrepreneurs and athletes from marginalized backgrounds transformed American sporting culture during the 1960s and 1970s, the highpoint of the Black Freedom and Second-Wave feminist movements. His first book, Forging Diaspora: Afro-Cubans and African Americans in a World of Empire and Jim Crow (University of North Carolina Press, 2010), won the Elsa Goveia Book Prize from the Association of Caribbean Historians and the Wesley-Logan Book Prize, conferred by the American Historical Association.
 
Alton Byrd
As Vice President of Growth Properties for the Long Island Nets and Nets GC, Alton Byrd oversees strategic and operational activities for the NBA G League’s Brooklyn Nets and Nets GC of the NBA 2K League. Byrd led the launch of the team’s inaugural season at Barclays Center in Brooklyn and the team’s permanent move to NYCB LIVE, home of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, on Long Island. He now also works on the strategic business operations of NBA 2K team Nets GC.

Nzingha Prescod
Founder of Fencing in the Park, a community-based, outdoor summer series introducing the less visible sport of fencing to children of color in Brooklyn neighborhoods that are unlikely to access it, otherwise. Olympic, national team, and NCAA athletes joined together to lead the sessions and we enrolled more than 40 kids from underrepresented neighborhoods such as East Flatbush, Flatbush, Brownsville, Bed-Stuy, and Crown Heights. Parents reported noticeable improvement in their child’s discipline, teaming, and focus abilities. Many also believe FITP lifted their kids’ spirits in an unprecedented period of isolation and provided them with a productive outlet to develop confidence, optimism, and sense of purpose.
 
Tyler Holmes
Tyler Holmes graduated from Columbia College in 2018 with a major in Political Science and was a member of the Football Team during his 4 years. He currently is a full-time elementary teacher in the Bronx, a business owner of T. Holmes Photography, a photography and videography company, and an aspiring film director. He is also a member of Strategy For Black Lives, a youth led civil rights group in NYC focused on improving the lives of those impacted by systemic racism through protest and policy reform.