International Women’s Day

So there's this old "joke" that GOLF is an acronym for Gentleman Only, Ladies Forbidden. I've been golfing since I was 9 years old - long before Tiger Woods made the sports world confront racism within golf. My mom, who is Jamaican, also golfs and we have had our fair share of gendered and racist experiences on the golf course. The general reaction by men is that we don't really belong there and that we're going to slow down or otherwise interfere with their game. Our way of dealing with that crap is to just be better at the game than they are (which we generally are!). The easiest way to shut them all up has been to hit the ball further and with better accuracy than them, as often as possible. As a woman on a golf course, but especially a black woman, you have to be fierce and on your game every time you step up to the tee to prove you have a right to be there. I had to bring that same attitude into the gym last week when I was working away at my back squats at 1 of the 2 squat racks that the gym has. A man was on the other rack when a young guy came in, set up a chair behind the squat racks and then proceeded to stare at me. Presumably to stare me off the squat rack. I wasn't moving - I wasn't finished my work and I certainly wasn't going to be scared off the rack. Whether it's the gym, the golf course, the hockey rink, the baseball diamond, the CEO office, the construction yard, whatever - WOMEN BELONG. We belong in those spaces, we have the right to occupy those spaces and we're done with letting anyone make us feel otherwise. #internationalwomensday #everydamnday

In strength and love,

KSA