CITIUS MAG Podcast with Chris Chavez

“Take accountability. We are tired of educating you. We are tired of getting racially profiled and getting racially discriminated against. We're tired of being killed. We can't do both. White people have to take the burden...Help us because we can't do it by ourselves."

Last year, Gwen Berry raised her first on the podium of the Pan American Games after winning the gold medal in the hammer throw. Her protest against racial and social injustice in America landed her a 12-month probation from the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee. After nationwide protests broke out at the end of May, I caught up with Gwen for a Sports Illustrated interview in which she said she would do it again in 2021 once her probation is up. On social media, she demanded an apology from USOPC CEO Sarah Hershland after they released a statement saying the USOPC stands "stands with those who demand equality." They had a phone call where Hirshland apologized for the effects of the decision to put Berry on probation.

Berry grew up in Ferguson, Mo., and marched with protesters in St. Louis in 2014, after Michael Brown was shot and killed by former police officer Darren Wilson. The death ignited weeks of unrest and conversation about race relations, but Wilson was never prosecuted. In 2020, Berry has taken to the streets to protest George Floyd's death at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer.

Gwen Berry will not be silenced. In this podcast, we discuss what the past few weeks have been like for her, conversations among elite athletes possibly protesting in 2021 and much more.

Read my Sports Illustrated interview with Gwen here: https://www.si.com/olympics/2020/06/02/gwen-berry-us-olympic-thrower-athlete-protests-george-floyd

Gwen's donation suggestion for the Black Lives Matter movement: https://buytheblock.com/

Support for this episode comes from GOODR SUNGLASSES – Been rocking Goodr sunglasses throughout the past couple months and they're the best. No slip. No bounce. No fog. Polarized. Ridiculously affordable starting at $25 a pair. No discounts needed when they’re already the most affordable performance shades on the planet. Visit Goodr.com/citius to check out some of my favorite pairs. #EyesAreFeelinGoodr

▶ Follow us: twitter.com/CitiusMag | instagram.com/citiusmag | facebook.com/citiusmag

✩ Connect with Chris via Email: chris@citiusmag.com | twitter.com/ChrisChavez | instagram.com/chris_j_chavez

"My grandfather told us from the jump, ‘Don’t ever let color separate you from anything. Don’t the color of green get you into any kind of trouble with another color but always accept another color besides your color and because we can all be a family together. Don’t worry about whoever it is that hates your color. You were born this color for a reason and wear it with pride.’ That’s what I’ve been doing since that day. I’m not afraid to speak my mind because I’m black. I just pay attention to my surroundings at all times at 110% level."

-----

Like many people throughout the country, I've been processing and thinking about all the current events happening since the murder of George Flloyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers. It's absolutely heartbreaking. I wanted to share this podcast episode that Leigh Anne Sharek and I shared on the Runners of NYC Podcast last month. I promise you that there will be more from me. I know in my role and with the platform that I've built, we can amplify, support and elevate Black voices. You can't make any progress or change in silence. So while I could have not posted any podcast this week, I'm re-posting this conversation onto the podcast feed with the most subscribers in our network because it deserves to be heard widely.

Our guest for this episode is Coffey. He is a father, husband, filmmaker, Nike running pacer and the founder of Define New York Run Club. This conversation was on our schedule before the Ahmaud Arbery shooting but we take the first 30 minutes of our talk to address the story, its impact on him and how he relates to the likes of Ahmaud Arbery, Michael Brown and Trayvon Martin. We go back to his roots in North Carolina, how he got his start in fashion and filmmaking, why he got hooked on group running and then ultimately starting his own group.

You may have seen him on recent episodes of ‘For Life’ but his big project has been the short film “About the People” which hosts a very powerful and honest conversation about social justice and inequalities by black and brown men at the hands of police brutality. Coffey was one of the writers on the film and drew some inspiration from the conversations he’s had to have with his oldest son on police brutality.

Follow Coffey on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ThatCoffeyBoy/

Follow Define New York Run Club: https://www.instagram.com/DefineNewYorkRunClub/

More on 'About The People': https://www.instagram.com/AboutThePeopleFilm/

WATCH: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MItfknF6Yb0

"Here’s the thing: For a kid who plays squash in Connecticut, it doesn’t matter if they go to Brown, Princeton or Harvard. They can go to some other school and they’re likely going to be OK. Their families have money. They have connections. They’re going to be alright. They’re going to go to college. A kid who ran really fast and ran a really great 1,500 at their small state meet or their local city conference, gets a call from somebody – they have a life-changing opportunity. They have an opportunity to change their future in a way that otherwise would not have been possible.

Why am I going to sit back and let that happen? I’m not so that’s why I wrote the article."

On May 28, Brown University announced its decision to cut 11 varsity sports as part of their Excellence in Brown Athletics Initiative. The teams that were cut were men's and women’s fencing, men's and women’s golf, women’s skiing, men's and women’s squash, women’s equestrian, and men’s track, field, and cross country — will transition to club status. Former Princeton middle distance specialist Russell Dinkins joins the CITIUS MAG Podcast after writing "Brown University, If You Were Actually Serious About Racial Justice You Would Not Be Cutting the Men’s Track Team." Nearly 50,000 people have signed a petition to retain the program's varsity status.

David Melly, the host of the Run Your Mouth Podcast and a contributor to CITIUS MAG, joins me as well because he wrote his own open letter to the Brown University president on Calling For Excellence.

We discuss why we're all disappointed by Brown's decision and why it should be reinstated to show true advocacy for diversity in athletics. And in light of the current events in the world, this ties very well into the ongoing discussion of diversifying organizations and making sure there is equality in the opportunities presented to people of color.

You can catch the latest episode of the podcast on iTunes so subscribe and leave a five-star review. We are also on Stitcher, Google Play and Spotify.

Johnny Gregorek joins the CITIUS MAG Podcast ahead of his world record attempt in the Blue Jean Mile on May 30.

He is a professional runner for Asics and a member of the New Jersey-New York Track Club. Johnny is also the second-fastest American indoor miler in history. His 3:49.98 is just behind Bernard Lagat's 3:49.89. His other personal bests include 3:35 for the 1,500. He was a member of the U.S. national team for the 2017 World Championships in London, where he made the final and finished 10th in the world. He was an All-American for Columbia and Oregon.

In this episode, we'll take a dive into his career thus far since he's certainly someone in the mix for an Olympic team spot next year but...this Saturday (May 30th) he will be spiking up for a world record attempt. He will be going for the blue jean mile world record of 4:11.80 and who knows if sub-4 is in the cards. Not only is he providing the world with some good ol' entertainment in a time when there are no races, but he's also doing it for a great cause. He has already raised more than 12,000 dollars for the National Alliance on Mental Illness in memory of his brother and for mental health awareness month. We talk about all that and more.

CITIUS MAG popularized the Blue Jean Mile in 2017. We said we'd cough up some money for someone to break four minutes in it. CITIUS Mag will be donating $1,000 for a sub-4, $500 for a world record and regardless we're cutting a check for at least $250. If you want more information about Johnny's attempt, Paul Snyder has covered it for CITIUS MAG and you can also donate through Johnny's personal pages.

Johnny Gregorek’s Blue Jeans Mile Will Be More Fun Than The Olympics: http://citiusmag.com/johnny-gregorek-blue-jeans-mile-history/

Donate to the National Alliance on Mental Illness: https://donate.nami.org/fundraiser/2749965

Support CITIUS MAG & pick up some merch on CITIUSMAG.com

▶ Follow us: twitter.com/CitiusMag | instagram.com/citiusmag | facebook.com/citiusmag

✩ Connect with Chris via Email: chris@citiusmag.com | twitter.com/ChrisChavez | instagram.com/chris_j_chavez

Duane Solomon joins the CITIUS MAG Podcast for an exit interview after announcing his retirement on June 20th with an Instagram post. He finished his career as the third-fastest American of all-time in the 800 meters with his 1:42.82 personal best at the 2012 Olympics in London.

In this episode, we'll go all the way to his high school career and how he managed to find the 800 meters as his specialty event. We'll look at how his "old school" approach to training started in college at USC and eventually landed him on his first U.S. national team in 2007 in Osaka. He opens up about issues with confidence at the college level and early into his professional career before he eventually erupted in 2012 under the guidance of Johny Gray (the former American record holder). Duane explains why it's the 2012 Olympic Trials and not the Olympic final that's the proudest moment of his career. From the warmup area to the call room to the track and off, Duane details his perspective of the London final and David Rudisha's perfect world record. We unpack the later years of his career like chasing the American in 2013/14, crashing and blacking out at the 2015 U.S. Championships, losing in the first round of the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials and the curious ending to the final three years of his career. Plus, how he feels he fits into the history of America's rise to the top of the 800 meters and Donavan Brazier's world record chances. All that and more...

Support for this episode comes from GOODR SUNGLASSES – Been rocking Goodr sunglasses throughout the past couple months and they're the best. No slip. No bounce. No fog. Polarized. Ridiculously affordable starting at $25 a pair. No discounts needed when they’re already the most affordable performance shades on the planet. Visit Goodr.com/citius to check out some of my favorite pairs. #EyesAreFeelinGoodr

▶ Follow us: twitter.com/CitiusMag | instagram.com/citiusmag | facebook.com/citiusmag

✩ Connect with Chris via Email: chris@citiusmag.com | twitter.com/ChrisChavez | instagram.com/chris_j_chavez

▶ Follow us: twitter.com/CitiusMag | instagram.com/citiusmag | facebook.com/citiusmag

✩ Connect with Chris via Email: chris@citiusmag.com | twitter.com/ChrisChavez | instagram.com/chris_j_chavez