The 44 Percent: WeTrain app, Beyoncé tour fashion, Sha’Carri shines

Sports have been inextricably linked to the Black experience for ages. Many of our heroes have been known for their athletic prowess, and being great at sports has also become a gateway into a different world.

From future Basketball Hall of Famer LeBron James to 11-time Olympic medalist Allyson Felix, being a Black athlete can mean you are the primary breadwinner for your entire lineage or world famous.

It can also mean that you might be mistreated by white people you thought were family in the case of former NFL star Michael Oher, or villainized worldwide like track star Sha’Carri Richardson.

No matter what, Black athletes triumph in a way that reflects the resilience of our people. Oher is currently on a book tour and has filed charges against the couple that misled him into conservatorship.

Two years after Richardson was barred from competing in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics for smoking marijuana, she set a world championship record for the 100-meter dash and beat dominant Jamaican team members in the process. Richardson knew that even if the world turned on her, she still had a self-confidence beyond measure.

University of Miami student Maurice Manswell created an app to help high school athletes better prepare for college athletics and rules that enable college athletes to earn money.

By embracing the future, we pay homage to our past. The future of Black sports is beautiful, inclusive and inspiring.

INSIDE THE 305

University of Miami student’s app helps high school athletes train for the next level:

Let’s face it: Information for high school athletes about how to play college sports and what it takes to get there can be rare. A University of Miami student wants high school athletes to have the tools and training needed to compete at the next level.

Maurice Manswell’s WeTrain app allows high school athletes and their families to connect with college and former college athletes for training sessions and information about what it takes to compete in college.

During dinner with his mother and entrepreneur Allison Manswell one evening, WeTrain founder Maurice Manswell passionately discussed the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s new protocols that have allowed college athletes such as former University of Miami women’s basketball players Haley and Hanna Cavinder to get paid by companies while still in school.

Her response? Start an app for your business. “She said that I should set up a platform where you could train student-athletes through an app,” Manswell, 20, recalled.

As a former lacrosse player at boarding school IMG Academy and Division II Lynn University, Manswell knew what it took to train and get the opportunity to play college sports. Now an undergraduate student at the University of Miami, he’s found a way to put his sports experience to use.

How ‘The Blind Side’s’ Michael Oher inspired readers at book signing event in Coral Gables:

Former NFL player Michael Oher gained fame beyond his playing career through the film “The Blind Side,” a now-questionable depiction of his rise to athletic fame that has been allegedly distorted by the white couple that claimed they adopted him.

At a recent Coral Gables book-signing event, he engaged attendees and talked about the adversity it took to succeed in football as well the personal journey he went on to better understand his own background and the people he thought were his family.

The 37-year-old former NFL player and author recently made headlines earlier this month when he filed a lawsuit against the family who took him in when he was 18. In the suit, Oher alleges that he was not adopted by the couple, Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy, portrayed by Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw in the 2009 film. He also contends that, without his knowledge, he was placed in a conservatorship, which is a way for someone to assume legal guardianship over an adult — potentially costing him millions, he says, according to several media reports. Oher is asking a Tennessee judge to end the almost 20-year-old conservatorship.

OUTSIDE THE 305

Actor Ron Cephas Jones Dies at 66:

When actor Ron Cephas Jones first appeared on NBC’s hit drama “This Is Us,” audience members wondered who his grizzled character was. His poignant words, however, quickly drove even the most jaded viewers to tears. Jones passed away this past week and had a career that spanned decades across television, film and even Broadway.

Whether he played a jovial, paternal figure on This Is Us, or a callous, bitter uncle in the cult classic Paid In Full, his presence was was felt. Off camera, family and colleagues remembered him as a warm, kind person.

Sha’Carri Richardson wins women’s 100 meters at world track and field championships:

I imagine most people would agree with me when I say that Sha’Carri Richardson has been on my Twitter, er, X, timeline a billion times over. Going into the Toyko Olympics in 2021, people put immense pressure on her to continue the competitive legacy of women track stars like Allyson Felix and Florence Griffith Joyner. When she was disallowed to compete due to marijuana use, sports media pundits and the general public both talked poorly of her.

None of that mattered after she won her World Championship in dramatic fashion this past Monday in Budapest, Hungary. Richardson, 23, beat Jamaican Olympic medalists Shericka Jackson and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce in the 100-yard dash and reminded people that their praise needs to be as loud as their negative words were.

HIGH CULTURE

‘I have to honor the queen.’ A look at fans’ dress code for Beyoncé’s Renaissance tour:

Beyoncé’s Renaissance tour stop his past Friday at Miami Gardens’ Hard Rock Stadium was nothing short of spectacular. Her fans dressed as if they too were going to be onstage and it made the event even more special. C. Isaiah Smalls wrote an interesting story about the the shimmering fashion that her fans wore.

“People are putting themselves out there,” said Nadia De La Mora, a sophomore at Florida International University who’s attending the show. She created a moodboard on Pinterest ahead of the show which includes images of Solange Knowles, Dennis Rodman and Grace Jones. The album itself, she described, can be considered a love letter to Black, queer communities due to the heavy influence of disco and house music. “It’s a very intersectional album so I know that people are really taking a chance to bring it to life.”

Where does “The 44 Percent” name come from? Click here to find out how Miami history influenced the newsletter’s title.