#ImOnMyLupitaNyongo : Yet ANOTHER Kenyan Steals America’s Heart

Flavor of the month Daniel Adongo received a heroes welcome home after his risky but wildly successful transition from rugby to “football” made headlines. He became the first Kenyan ever to play in the NFL. Turns out he isn’t the ONLY Kenyan

making the headlines in the Yanks most popular sport.

 

 

Ramogi Huma. His name has been on heavy rotation during this year’s March Madness media cycle. ESPN, Fox Sports, CNN, MSNBC, The Colbert Report, Sports Illustrated, The Wall Street Journal, The NY Times, The Washington Times, you name it.

Why is he such a big deal?

Take it from the top: College Sports is a multi-billion dollar industry in that country. It’s heavily debated whether college athletes are well compensated for their integral role in the industry: to pay or not to pay is the question. The “pay-for-play” concept is extremely polarizing, so despite the attention the issue attracts, the existing NCAA (National College Players Association) rules remain unamended. It’s because of this status-quo that proposals for change in the NCAA’s rules and practices championed by players are pre-supposed to be repackaged pro-“Pay-for-play” arguments. And we all know… Where there is a loophole, there’s someone exploiting it. As a result, college sports is rife with rules skewed heavily against the players.

After witnessing a harsh penalty exacted on a teammate during his UCLA college football years, Huma formed the NCPA (National College Players Association) to advocate for athletes’ rights. It’s grown to a membership of over 17,000 college athletes to date. He, along with two other former college athletes, took their mission one step further. In January 2014, they founded CAPA (College Athletes Players Association).

I stumbled upon a television interview he gave a couple of days ago. The former UCLA linebacker was promoting awareness about this historic ruling that could possibly revolutionize this billion-dollar industry. The results of a quick interwebs search for “Ramogi Huma” are impressive. If he succeeds in his quest for the badly needed reforms within the NCAA, Huma will go down in history as one of the great Civil Rights Leaders in that country. Once again, Kenya proves to be the common denominating factor in a generation of radical visionaries.

Sweet Mother Mary, Sweet father Joseph, Sweet Jesus, we made it in America.

 

References (linked): Wikipedia, CAPA, CNN, NY Times.

 

 

About this writer:

Nali Sharon (Contributor)