I was holding forth about some example of low West Indian cricket morals when Constantine grew grave with an almost aggressive expression on his face. ‘You have it all wrong, you know,’ he said coldly. What did I have all wrong? ‘You have it all wrong. You believe all that you read in those books. They are no better than we.’

  • James, Cyril Lionel Robert. Beyond A Boundary (p. 148)

This is the core of Beyond A Boundary, that the West Indian is no less than any other person. This statement is at its most dramatic when made through a game. Jesse Owens demonstrating the same broad statement in 1936 is not merely undeniable, it is glorious. This is the strength of games as a medium through which to prove equality. It answers the banality of racism with something transcendent.

The ideal of sports, an ideal lived up to in that moment, is that through open competition and a level playing field, a moment like this is made possible.

“I don’t know anything about Angola but Angola’s in trouble”

  • Barkley, Charles. Press conference, 1992, before the U.S. beat Angola 116-48

In 1992, Angola held the first free and fair elections in the country’s history. The Carnation Revolution of 1975 resulted in Angola’s independence from Portugal but Cold War politics together with the mistakes of colonialism engendered a civil war there as in so many other countries. The Bicesse Accords of 1991 brought a peace that lasted until the elections. This peace broke as the results were announced and the Angolan Civil War resumed, finally ending in 2001. 40 million people live in Angola.

Sir Charles could not have known much of this history at that time. The Halloween Massacre had yet to happen during the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. He expressed instead a truth that is fundamental both inside and outside of sports, that some people are known about and some are not.

It is sports that enabled CLR James to write his spectacular book. The success of Laurie Constantine both provided material for the book and the financial support that allowed James to write. It is also sports that denied these Angolans that chance. They could never have even fought, let alone beat, the Dream Team filled as it was with players for whom the term professional cannot carry the first measure of their ability.

It is games that created this unfair fight and so it is games that dehumanized these players, transforming them from people to punchline and reiterating what everyone already knows - the colonizer wins the game and from the colonized is made the trophy.

And so we come to IDF soldiers invoking the children’s game Salted Fish as they shoot people seeking aid in Gaza. The structure of a game makes it easy to divide people into those who act and those who are acted upon. It makes it easy to abstract a person into a game piece.

Play can be liberatory but play is not liberation. Only liberation is liberation.