Black Players For Change : A Conversation with MLS Star Joseph-Claude Gyau
Three days ago, Major League Soccer became the first American sport back in action. But before the first game was played, more than 100 black players took the field in a forceful demonstration of solidarity and protest against racial injustice.
One of those players was my nephew, FC Cincinnati star, Joseph-Claude Gyau.
I’ve watched this young man go through it all in pursuit of his dream. At 15, Joe moved to Florida on his own to train at the famed IMG Academy. At 17, he signed his first pro contract and briefly moved to Vancouver before heading off to Germany where he quickly learned the language and started building a life for himself. I witnessed his two-year battle back to the field after a freak knee injury threatened to end his career at the tender of 21. I felt the hurt in his heart when no amount of effort or talent could overcome the racial prejudice that still plagues European game. Our entire family was elated when he decided to return to the states last summer. This was supposed to be his breakout year, and then COVID-19 happened. Now, Joe is among a generation of black athletes channeling all of the hard lessons he learned abroad into a campaign for change
“Our goal is just to create equity, you know, not just equality but equity for the black athletes, black people across the country, worldwide if it reaches that far,” Joe said in a conversation we held the morning after the protest. “We want to see more black leadership in the league…more coaches, more GMs, you know, more people on staff [more] negotiating power for players…more money being allocated to these nonprofits.”
You can listen to our conversation about what sparked the #MLS is Black movement and what he and others hope to achieve on the latest episode of the Resettlement Podcast