About the Blog 

 

Fighting for justice demands the same dedication, grit, and positive thinking needed to finish a marathon. Runners can use these skills to build a more inclusive sport, and a more just and peaceful world. 

I created this blog in July 2020 in response to the Black Lives Matter movement. My name is Cole Manley, and I'm a Master's and PhD student studying the history of  social movements for racial and economic justice in the United States.

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In my life outside the library, I run marathons, find new redwood park trails to explore, and obsess about running shoes. But I've never deeply considered how running relates to my research interests--how my life on the roads and trails connects to my work on civil rights movements.

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This blog is designed to help build communities of politically-active and historically-conscious runners. As a white marathoner and an historian-in-training, I recognized my adjacencies to both the running community and to racial justice struggles. Through weekly blog posts, I aim to highlight connections between runners and racial justice movements of the past and present. Please subscribe below to know when the latest posts are published, and contact me if you'd like to become a contributor or if you have any other comments or questions!

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There are so many people and grassroots organizations who are leading this movement, but I've been particularly inspired by Faith Briggs' call to action in a recent Runner's World article: 

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"Don’t run for Ahmaud once. Run for Ahmaud and Tamir and Michael Brown. Run for your friends who are scared, for their children so that they can run freely.... Make the acknowledgement of ongoing injustice a part of your reality, not just a sad story to be forgotten. Run for a better sport, a safer world.”