Here we go, Nike celebrating diversity again, London's diversity.
"The new Cannes Social & Influencer Lions has its first Grand Prix winner: Nike’s “Nothing Beats a Londoner” from Wieden+Kennedy, London. A key component of the campaign is a short film--directed by the Megaforce collective and produced by Riff Raff Films--which centers on enterprising, fiercely competitive, young Londoners who shape sport and culture in the metropolis around them." (via)
In 2012, Nike launched the "Find Your Greatness" campaign showing "everyday athletes around the world training, playing and competing" (via).
One of the many messages: "If we think greatness is supposed to look a certain way, act a certain way and play a certain way, we certainly need to rethink some things."
"For 30 years, the “Just Do It” mantra has been a motivational call for athletes nationwide, across all sports, and all levels of play. To celebrate that rich diversity, the second film in the JDI series, “Dream Crazy,” focuses on a collection of stories that represent athletes who are household names and those who should be. The common denominator: All leverage the power of sport to move the world forward.
Along with inspirational pros — LeBron James, Serena Williams, Odell Beckham Jr., Eliud Kipchoge — in this film, you’ll meet incredible athletes: 29-year-old basketball phenom and wheelchair athlete Megan Blunk, who took gold in Rio in 2016; Isaiah Bird, who was born without legs, and at 10 years old has become the one to beat on his wrestling team; Charlie Jabaley — an Ironman who made over his life by dropping 120 pounds, going vegan, and in the process, reversed the growth of a life-long brain tumor; and Michigander Alicia Woollcott, who simultaneously played linebacker and was named homecoming queen during her high school senior season. (...)
Narrated by Colin Kaepernick, “Dream Crazy” provides encouragement to everyone who has crazy dreams and goals that may seem unsurmountable." Nike
The "Girl Effect" was founded by the Nike Foundation in 2004. Today, the independent creative non-profit is supported by UNICEF, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Australian Government, and many more (via).
"We create for young people, in ways they love and interact with. We build vibrant youth brands and we work globally, creating mobile platforms. Everywhere, we use insights into girls’ lives to shape our work, while rigorously measuring its impact. We focus on a girl’s whole world, along her entire journey to adulthood. And we create with her, so she can tell her story. Through our work a girl can start to express herself, value herself and build relationships. With the belief and support of those around her, she can then seek out the things she needs – from vaccination to education." Girl Effect
More Nike postings:
::: The Iron Nun: LINK ::: Title IX: LINK ::: "Equality should have no boundaries." Nike.: LINK ::: Football: No to Racism: LINK
Nike's campaign from February 2017 (Black History Month) speaks up for equality. Part of the campaign is a clip that features "Nike athletes", a film narrated by Michael B. Jordan (via).
"Equality is about Nike raising its voice and using the power of sport to stand up for the value of equality and to inspire people to take action in their communities." Nike
"Together with our athletes, employees and communities, we are encouraging people to take the respect and fairness they see on the field and translate it off the field. We can help advance the conversation and create lasting change." Nike
"I've learned other life lessons along the way, but the ones that I'd look back and tell my twenty something self now are: It's not what you say, it's what you do; don't pay attention to how old you are, only focus on how old you feel (...)" Madonna Buder
Marie Dorothy Buder, also known as Madonna Buder and the Iron Nun (a title she earned after completing the 2005 Hawaii Ironman at 75 years old), is a Catholic religious sister and Senior Olympian triathlete. She was born in 1930 and currently holds the world record for the oldest person to ever finish an Ironman Triathlon, i.e., for finishing the Subaru Ironman Canada in 2012 ... when she was 82 years old.
Madonna Buder started training when she was 48 after Father John had told her that it could improve "mind, body, and spirit". When she was 52, she completed her first triathlon; at 55 her first Ironman (via and via). But more about her in Nike's clip.
"I don't know what I'd do without running! I love the feeling I get when I whiz past people younger than me and they say, I want to be like you when I get to your age!" Madonna Buder
Nike's wonderful new clip with/about Madonna Buder:
Behind the scenes:
"During those days, there wasn't any organized races, (including marathons and triathlons) for women. Those races came out for women eventually, but what she had was just organized by schools. Sister Madonna was 48 when she started running for fun — "Father John told me it would be good for my body and mind" — and it wasn't until 1977 that she actually ran her first race who wasn't really sure if it was OK for her to be running races, since she was the only nun doing so realizing the public wasn't used to a nun running. So to avoid creating slanderous conditions, she checked this all out with the bishop in advance. She told him she wanted to run for the cause of Multiple Sclerosis (MS), but that she wasn't sure how the media would handle it, so she wanted his blessing. He said, "Sister, I wish some of my priests would do what you're doing." (via)
"Asking how she trains for these triathlons, she says she runs to church every day and bikes 40 miles to swim in a lake near her home. She also jogs to her regular visits at the local jail, when it's nice out to talk to the inmates about Jesus and read scriptures to the them - an activity which she says makes her feel "so blessed" to come home from. As for her diet, Sister Buder sticks to a mostly raw diet of fruits and vegetables, but incorporates carbs and protein powder into her meals, and she says she 'listens' to what her body tells her it needs. Last year she had a biking accident where she fractured her pelvis, so while her body heals, she has been water jogging at the YMCA and going in the hot tub to let the jets and heat treat the nerves that are tender, and then she does the elliptical even though her doctor probably wouldn't advise that." (via)
"No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance."
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was to ensure that no individual was discriminated against due to ethnicity, religion ... gender. Prohibition on gender discrimination, however, was limited to the area of employment and did not refer to public education and federally assisted programmes (via). Title IX was proposed. And it changed the landscape of sports. The first person to introduce it was Senator Birch Bayh: "We are all familiar with the stereotype of women as pretty things who go to college to find a husband, go on to graduate school because they want a more interesting husband, and finally marry, have children, and never work again. The desire of many schools not to waste a 'man's place' on a woman stems from such stereotyped notions. But the facts absolutely contradict these myths about the 'weaker sex' and it is time to change our operating assumptions."(via).
The law was not welcomed by everybody. Opponents argued that men's sports would suffer when women's sports got more attention. Some school administrators said that in sports there were three genders: male, female and football. Schools came to different decisions ranging from dropping certain types of sports to adding new ones and creating new opportunities. After the introduction of Title IX, the number of women's college teams and women college athletes rose (via).
Just do it. On the 40th aniversary of Title IX (from 23 June, 1972), Nike celebrated the US legislation that opened the door for female athletes with the commercial "Voices" showing gold medalists and national champions Joan Benoit Samuelson, Lisa Leslie, Marlen Esparza, and Diana Taurasi (via):
