Our Stance Against Racism

antiracism

Black Lives Matter.

Over the recent days, we have been doing our best to understand what we at The Sports Edit can meaningfully do as a business and as a community to help fight hatred, discrimination and injustice - to fight racism.

So here is our commitment to doing more, to being better, to being allies. It’s not perfect, and it will be a work in progress as we strive to grow and improve. To borrow from Angela Y. Davis, we will change what we cannot accept. We are privileged with the opportunity to take action and are excited to continue working toward the change that needs to be seen. We will be accountable now and in the future.

OUR COMMITMENT TO DO MORE

The fitness industry is overwhelmingly white. A quick look around the average yoga class will confirm that. But we don’t live in a homogeneous society. London, where TSE was born, has the smallest percentage of white British people in all of the U.K, at 44.9%. Meanwhile 13.3% Londoners identified as black and 18.5% as Asian. And yet, if we’re honest with ourselves, too often the faces we see in the London fitness and wellness scene are not reflective of the incredible diversity of this city.

At The Sports Edit we believe good things come to those who sweat. For our part, we need to be doing more to extend that mission in a way that is accessible and empowering for our black community members. We are committed to making our active community of hardcore HIIT fans, yoga instructors, and tenacious trainers an inclusive path for success for people of all backgrounds.

how to be an ally

EDUCATION

We understand that it is not enough to be non-racist; for meaningful change we cannot be passive, discrimination calls for a response of active anti-racism. We’re doing some homework to learn more about how we can confront the both the overt and unconscious racism that takes place in day-to-day life. Beyond a protest, a donation, a social media post and a difficult conversation, there’s a lot of work to be done.

But there are plenty of people who have known this all along. So we’re taking notes from those who know it best. Here’s a brief list reading and documentaries we’re diving into:

Reading

Watching and listening

  • Jane Elliot, Diversity Expert and legendary Anti-racism Activist demonstrates how racism is taught not inherent through her social experiments. Try "Take a Walk in My Shoes: racism experiment; or A Class Divided: racism experiment in elementary school.

  • Netflix has launched a Black Lives Matter section to its genre tab to highlight powerful and complex narratives about the black experience.

  • Scene on Radio is a deep dive into race and society in the United States. Host John Biewin and guests explore racial structures in America in this important series.

  • About Race is hosted by Reni Eddo-Lodge, acclaimed author of Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race. In her podcast, Reni details topics around racial injustice and feminism. Expect an entertaining and educational series when tuning in.

  • Good Company is hosted by Otegha Uwagba, founder of Woman Who a platform that connects women working in creative industries. Through her podcast, Otegha chats with creative business women about their businesses and how they got started.

Celebrating on social

  • The Athlete Method - if you've tried any of their Instagram workouts you know Kerry and Ashleigh will put you to you paces! These Olympians are some of our social media heroes.

  • Adrienne LDN - FiiT Master Trainer Adrienne is a jack of all trades. If you're looking for fitness motivation, look no further than her classes on FiiT or her Power Hour podcast.

  • Lauren Naomi - don't let the charismatic smile fool you, try one of her classes and Lauren Naomi will have you working! We love her enthusiasm, aesthetic, and always-amazing playlists.

  • Ianthe Mellors - creator of the #movefortheculture fundraiser event sweeping over social media on June 20th, Ianthe brings pure joy to her fitness and dance classes. She and Fontaine Wright hosted an important discussion about their experiences as women of colour in the wellness industry.

    tse for blm

    BEING ALLIES AND ADVOCATES

    We also know that meaningful change comes from looking within our team. We recognise the need to do better. As such we are making immediate efforts to:

    • Hold a fundraiser fitness class as part of #movefortheculture on June 20th, in support of Black Minds Matter, an organisation providing black mental health resources and therapy when people need it most

    • Listen to our team to make informed decisions and thoughtful improvements

    • Dedicate resources to anti-bias and anti-racism training, including the understanding of unconscious bias

    • Continue to feature and celebrate models of all ethnicities and skin tones across our site and social

    • Actively increase diversity amongst our ambassadors and partners

    • Ensure that our recruitment reflects the incredible diversity of our home city of London

    CONCLUSION

    We are taking immediate actions against racism. Recent times have shown that it is not enough to be passive and well-intentioned, we must actively advocate for what is right and challenge a systemic problem that is wrong. At TSE, we will use our platform for meaningful change to acknowledge the simple fact that Black Lives Matter.