ABSTRACT
Race and racism carry real consequences. The unfair treatment of Black players and their cultural contributions in the National Football League (NFL) are clearly racially motivated. Black cultural agency is the creative contributions produced by Black culture. This chapter approaches from the perspective of Africans as central agents of the world. African agency can be misdirected; specifically in the NFL—one can be Black and still struggle with the desire to serve the interest of White supremacy. The chapter identifies the forms of Black cultural agency that are diminished by the NFL and, using Tillotson’s Agency Reduction Formation, shows how the agency is challenged by anti-Black, White-supremacist logic. It also identifies Black cultural contributions to sports by historically locating their origin in Black communities and African traditions. This includes developing an analysis that is culturally accurate and not mislead by Eurocentric concepts. Black cultural agency is the way Black players in the NFL creatively engage with their humanity.
