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What Had Happened Was

What Had Happened Was: 8/19/16

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    ATHLETICS-OLY-2016-RIO
    Jamaica’s Usain Bolt kneels to kiss the track as he celebrates after winning the Men’s 200m Final during the athletics event at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium in Rio de Janeiro on August 18, 2016. ODD ANDERSEN/AFP/Getty Images
    By Rhiannon Walker Ryan Cortes

    GAME. BLOUSES.

    With a dominant, absurdly easy win in Thursday night’s men’s 200-meter final, Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt has eight Olympic gold medals, including three straight in the 100 and 200.

    “What else can I do to the world to prove I am the greatest? I’m trying to be one of the greatest. Be among [Muhammad] Ali and Pelé,” Bolt said after the race. “I hope after these games, I will be in that bracket.”

    BLESSINGS!

    Singer Frank Ocean released a live-stream link on his Boys Don’t Cry website … and there was actual music. This is not a drill. Frank Ocean seriously unveiled some new music Thursday night for his visual album Endless, which is a separate project from Boys Don’t Cry. It is now on Apple Music.

    https://twitter.com/nostalgicultra/status/766494569223458816

    SOCIAL STATUS

    FOR THE CULTURE

     

    This video of Usain Bolt posted on the official Jamaican Olympics Twitter account is everything.

    A new book explores sub-Saharan Africa’s fashion scene.

    Kimia Alizadeh Zenoorin’s bronze medal in taekwondo is the first ever Olympic medal won by an Iranian woman.

    His and Hers co-host Jemele Hill will host The Undefeated’s town hall on athletes, responsibility and gun violence, which will air on ESPN next Thursday.

    Puerto Rican baseball great Roberto Clemente (1934-1972) would have been 82 years old on Thursday.

    TOP THREE TWEETS

    Every morning we’ll hit you here with the best of what we saw on social media the previous night. Why? Why not?

    1. KEEP YOUR HEAD UP, LARRY

    2. LISTENING PARTY ON DECK

    3. I GOTTA GET OUTTA HERE

    #ICYMI

    Our brother Martenzie Johnson examined the WWE’s complicated history with race and the bold, black and proud new group taking over the sport:

    Considering the history of race in professional wrestling is like pork hot dogs. You know what it consists of, but you avoid thinking about it too much in order to enjoy the final product. White professional wrestling was introduced to the United States in the late 1800s. Blacks began to integrate the sport about a century later. There were separate world heavyweight championships for Negroes. Houston Harris, known as Bobo Brazil, was, according to author David Shoemaker, the first “unofficial” African-American world champion in America (his title was never formally recognized by the National Wrestling Alliance). This led to black stars such as Edward “Bearcat” Wright (who was briefly suspended from wrestling in Indiana for challenging segregated matches), Reggie “Sweet Daddy” Siki, “Sailor” Art Thomas, Ernie Ladd, and Rocky Johnson, the father of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. In those days, blacks were only allowed to fight one another, as mixed-raced bouts could lead to near riots from the predominantly white crowds. But once white promoters recognized the economics of catering to a growing ethnic minority audience, things changed. But black bad guys could also lead to fan revolt, so promoters created storylines centered on overt racism from the white performers that was meant to drum up sympathy for their black counterparts. WWE rehashed this technique in 2003, with white superstar champion Triple H telling black underdog Booker T thatchampions don’t look like him.

    PICTURE PERFECT

     

    Rhiannon Walker is an associate editor at The Undefeated. She is a drinker of Sassy Cow Creamery chocolate milk, an owner of an extensive Disney VHS collection, and she might have a heart attack if Frank Ocean doesn't drop his second album.

    Ryan Cortes is a staff writer for The Undefeated. Lemon pepper his wings.

    This Story Tagged: Dez Bryant Frank Ocean Larry Wilmore Usain Bolt What Had Happened Was