Journalist Jemele Hill will guest host the all-new episode of “Soul of a Nation” that explores activism in sports. The hour examines the historic role sports have played in America’s racial reckoning, and the seismic shift Black athletes are provoking in this current moment. Hill,
ABC News’ T.J. Holmes, Sunny Hostin, Kenneth Moton, and ESPN’s Michael Wilbon lead the hour, which features interviews with WNBA player Renee Montgomery, UCLA gymnasts Nia Dennis and Margzetta Frazier, decorated Olympian Dominique Dawes, and NBA players Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony. Plus, Emmy, GRAMMY, and Oscar award-winning rapper/actor Common give a special first look from his upcoming new album that will be released this spring, “A Beautiful Revolution Pt. 2,” with a debut performance of “Get It Right.”
Soul of a Nation Season 1 Episode 5 will Tuesday, March 30 (10:00-11:00 p.m. EDT) on ABC. Episodes can also be viewed the next day on demand and on Hulu.
This episode of “Soul of a Nation” includes the following stories and conversations:
Wilbon talks to athletes across different sports for a candid discussion about the role and the risk pro athletes have taken to fight for racial justice. He sits down with National Basketball Players Association President Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony, both future NBA Hall-of-Famers, and John Carlos, whose protest at the 1968 Olympics cost him his Olympic career. The NFL’s Michael Thomas also opens up about kneeling in solidarity with Colin Kaepernick during the 2016 season.
When Black Lives Matter protests came to Atlanta, WNBA champion and former Atlanta Dream player-turned-owner Renee Montgomery turned her energy to empowering her community, stepping away from what would have been her 12th season in the league. In a tell-all conversation with Hill, Montgomery talks about the power of protest, the role of Black women in the struggle for racial equality, the WNBA’s uniquely unwavering support of its athletes and players across the league supporting Reverend Raphael Warnock in the special Georgia Senate election to replace part-Dream owner and now former Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler who criticized the league for its support of BLM.
UCLA gymnasts Nia Dennis and Margzetta Frazier tumbled into viral sensations with their floor routines that celebrated Black excellence. They talk with Moton about how they unapologetically challenged traditional gymnastic norms, navigating their newfound fame, growing up in a white-dominated sport and how they hope to inspire a new group of young athletes. Plus, decorated Olympian Dominique Dawes, who paved the way for many Black gymnasts, also weighs in on how Dennis and Frazier are changing the sport.
Hostin moderates this week’s revealing “In the Kitchen” conversation with “Monday Night Football” and NBA reporter and E:60 host Lisa Salters, senior NBA writer for The Undefeated Marc Spears and ESPN host and college analyst/reporter Maria Taylor.
ESPN’s The Undefeated examines the crossover between sports and film and how movies have been used as a tool to make cultural and social statements about Black athletes and the Black community. Through the lens of iconic films such as “He Got Game” and “Remember the Titans,” Deon Cole, Mo’ne Davis, Wood Harris, Janaya Future Khan, Soraya McDonald, Sylvia Obell, Saweetie, Tyrod Taylor and Justin Tinsley comment on what these films have taught about race, culture and being a Black athlete in America.
To close out the show, Common performs “Get It Right” publicly for the first time from his upcoming new album, “A Beautiful Revolution Pt. 2,” coming this spring.
