The Black Student-Athlete Summit is a three-day event centered around engaging and encouraging the holistic development of the Black Student-Athlete. North Texas student-athletes Alika Crawford (track and field), Saylor Hawkins (swim and dive), Ta'Shoyn Johnson (football) & Tylor Perry (men's basketball) attended this year's BSA Summit, hosted in Houston, Texas, which focused on the exploration of the mental health of Black student-athletes in America.
During the summit, students and administrators participated in sessions that included Mentoring Beyond the Field: Designing a Roadmap of Support for Black Male Athletes and Their Families, a town hall discussion on if Hip-Hop Failed Black America and The Intersection of NIL and Blackness, Racial Conflict in College Athletics, and More than an Athlete, amongst others. All sessions aimed to equip students and administrators with the tools necessary to understand and prioritize mental health of student-athletes, while understanding the unique challenges of diverse student-athlete populations.
Here are some thoughts and insight from Alika, Saylor and Ta’Shoyn on their experience at the BSA Summit, and in-depth perspective from Tylor on how he plans to apply what he’s learned to better the experience of Black student-athletes at UNT.
Thoughts from tylor
"My first thought about this whole trip when it was first presented to me? To be honest, I was not for it at all. I assumed it was going to be just a bunch of students coming together and listening to speakers tell us how we need to be role models, and not do drugs…you know the usual things Black athletes have to constantly hear throughout their entire life. However, it ended up being a completely different atmosphere. Instead of lecturing us on what we need to do better and making us feel attacked, they wanted to hear the ideas we came up with. They know that we’re the ones on the court and on the field, so they wanted insight from the people who are actually doing it. Not from the administrators, or the presidents, but what we see, and how we feel about certain situations.
As a Black athlete, really as an athlete period, we sometimes don’t take time to step back and look around at what’s really going on until it happens within our community or at our school. Not that we don’t take action, but we really don’t put the pressure on people in power until we feel really affected. That was one of the biggest things I saw being at the summit over the three days; that these issues are going on everywhere. Not just in Texas, or New York, or LA but the whole country.
"ONE THING I'VE TAKEN AWAY FROM THIS SUMMIT IS THAT BLACK STUDENTS AT PRIMARILY WHITE INSTITUTIONS NEED THEIR OWN SPACE SO THEY CAN FEEL INCLUDED and feel wanted." - TA'SHOYN JOHNSON
As a mid-major guy I was thinking these high majors are living their best life, getting everything they need with no problems in life. Which is how people perceive mid and lower majors. But in reality those guys probably suffer just as much as we do. I caught myself thinking it really is not fair to them at all that for so many years, just because a kid went to a certain school with a big name, that all their problems would go away no matter their skin color. I finally stepped back and found myself in awe, because I’m like, "Bro y'all deal with certain stuff I know I probably would’ve been ready to spaz over." And you can’t do anything but be so proud of these Black men and women, because of how they handle themselves. Hearing examples of Black students being looked at sideways, slick comments in the locker room directed towards them or teachers asking stupid questions about “nappy” hair and dreadlocks was surprising. These people were acting like our culture was an accessory. But in reality it’s who we are. It’s a part of us.
A lot of times you don’t see kids opening up about anything in their lives or anything that goes on with them, but to see young Black men and women open up to what were pretty much strangers about their problems and struggles is beautiful. We don’t do this enough in our community because we’re taught to be so tough all the time and hide our feelings. These past three days, we were able to really see Black people express themselves in ways we should be comfortable with doing all the time.
"THIS HAS SHOWN ME THERE ARE LOTS OF WAYS TO CONNECT WITH PEOPLE... AND THERE'S MORE PEOPLE OUT THERE THAN JUST ME WHO GO THROUGH MENTAL HEALTH STRESS." -ALIKA crawford
For me, it was just seeing the culture come together, taking notes, and telling stories about different experiences. This is most definitely something I’d send my kid to. And for sure something I recommend to other Black athletes. You’ll gain so much knowledge about who we really are. The most important thing I took from here was definitely realizing the power that we have as not only Black athletes, but student-athletes in general. We hold the key to a lot that goes on with the NCAA. These institutions can’t function without us and we need to start using that to our advantage.
The realist thing I heard all week though was when another student said, “we can’t do this alone.” And he strongly meant that Black people can’t do this on their own. We need every race to come together to see change, because if we’re being honest white people hold a majority of power. We can’t just think they’re going to automatically understand who we are, where we come from or what we go through. We have to educate them and help them understand our culture instead of judging them for not knowing.
"It’s about the generation after us. We don’t want our kids and grandkids dealing with the same issues that our parents dealt with or that we’re dealing with. Our purpose has to be bigger than ourselves and it's time we take that step forward." -tylor perry
It’s going to take a whole village. One person can’t change it, one group can’t change it, but a whole community coming together can make change. It isn’t just about us who are already in that position anymore. It’s about the generation after us. We don’t want our kids and grandkids dealing with the same issues that our parents dealt with or that we’re dealing with. Our purpose has to be bigger than ourselves and it's time we take that step forward. I’m extremely grateful for this trip and all the things I learned. I was just so glad to see so many Black folks in such a peaceful environment. It’s always a great thing seeing Black men and women coming together to find solutions."
- Tylor, Saylor, Ta'Shoyn, Alika
The Black Student-Athlete Summit was founded and is organized by University of Texas professor Dr. Leonard Moore.
Learn more about the Black Student-Athlete Summit and Dr. Moore click here.