Watch Episode One Of Vice TV x adidas' 'Running While Black' Series

Being Black in America means doing anything through the institution of racism, explains three-time Olympic champion Jackie Joyner-Kersee. That includes running. 

For the 60-year old retired track and field athlete, the sport has always been about more than just exercise. “It’s where meditation, size, and time travel become one,” she says. But on a deeper level, it’s also a form of resiliency: “From the age of nine, I knew I was a runner. It never crossed my mind to stop because I was Black. So I practiced, put in the work, and willed myself to become the best. I never imagined any of that happening to a Black girl from east St. Louis.” 

In recent years, “running while Black” has taken on a different meaning. On February 23, 2020, 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery was chased by three white men and murdered while jogging through Satilla Shores, a neighborhood in Glynn County, Georgia. 

A former high school football star who loved sports, Arbery ran every day, says his mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones. “He felt like if he was running, he was free — free from any cares in the world. Unfortunately, his thoughts were all wrong.”

Arbery’s death, which was considered a hate crime, spurred Cooper-Jones to establish The Ahmaud Arbery Foundation, which provides resources and opportunities, such as scholarships, for young Black men. “We want every child that looks like Ahmaud to have a chance to go to college,” says Cooper-Jones. 

Arbery’s murder also spotlighted the racial profiling Black runners have endured — and still endure — in America.

In South Florida, one group of Black runners is reclaiming their space to run freely. “Running is collectivism,” says Ashley Toussaint, founder of Running Edge 305. “It’s not being an individual, but being a collective — and being Black at the same time.” Toussaint holds weekly walking and running sessions throughout Miami, teaching participants about gentrification and the history of the community along the way. The group, he adds, has become a “safe, tranquil” space for him as a Black man in America. 

Elsewhere, Russell Dinkins is fighting to preserve track and field programs at universities, as they often provide pathways to educational opportunities for Black male athletes. Dinkins, 32, knows this first-hand, having used running as a vehicle to attend Princeton University. 

Through viral videos and tireless advocacy, Dinkins fought to save track and field programs from being cut at universities like Clemson, Brown, and the University of Minnesota. “Cutting these programs would specifically disadvantage Black male athletes,” he says. “That was something I really could not stand.”

Nowadays, Dinkins is still working with colleges, but also on his own athletic career as a Black elite athlete. The work, he adds, never ends. “I run, I bike, and the work continues.”

To learn more about the plight of Black runners in America today, check out “We Are,” above, the first episode of Running While Black. The three-part series, created by Vice and adidas, aims to change the conversation in sports while celebrating the voices of Black athletes.