I mean did you see the fella come from FIFTH place and win the gold medal in swimming? Bobby Finke blew everyone’s mind when he surged ahead in the 800m and won with the gold medal. One commentator said she looked away for 20 seconds and everything changed. Finke said he didn’t expect to win, according to USA Today.

I admit the commentators are annoying, so I mute is my music for many of the races. But even I was stunned at that race because I was watching and went “what the heck?”

I love watching the swimming races and hearing the stories of the athletes. I love that there are cameras on the bottom of the pool so that you can watch their form. These people obviously spend years perfecting their swimming form.

In these times of competition you get to see great moments.

This summer’s Olympics is filled with more drama than any high rated television drama. The year 2021 is living up to it’s little sister’s (2020) reputation. Everyday I wonder which athlete is going to be taken from the competition because of COVID-19. Each day the number grows. I hope my favorites don’t get caught in it.

Diving has been great this year also. I am in awe of those who go to great heights and jump off of it into deep water. I even saw people who looked like me. There is a lot of diversity, not only in the United States teams, but also internationally. One of my favorite divers is Canadian. And her hair did in the water what mine does in the water.

But that is okay, because that Japanese humidity was not a friend to black girl’s hair, regardless of the sport. It seemed to rustle everyone’s hair, not just the black girls.

My favorite event is track and field. I never get tired of track and field. It is so cool to see the power and grace these men and women run with. Even the untrained eye can tell who is new to the bunch by their gate.

The winners are fun to watch. It is that moment when they realize all the hard work and sacrifice paid off.

I am sad that Simone Biles did not get to compete, but I am proud she stood up for herself and her health. I am glad I got to experience the story of Suni Lee who won Gold in the Gymnastics all around competition. I am excited for her and can’t wait to hear more of her story.

I know Netflix and Hulu are breaking the bank putting out new stories for us to watch, but I want to experience these Olympic moments with these athletes. Very few people are called Olympians. Lets give them their moment. It is informative and inspiring.

We can always remember when the world came together despite a pandemic. We watched some of the strongest, healthiest of us compete in all types of sports from swimming to track, water polo to badminton, BMX riding to skateboarding. In chasing normal, we win on this one.

COVID-19 has made us think differently about a lot of things, but it has not defeated our spirit.

The movie Pinky was the epitome of her career.

Nina Mae McKinney played a supporting role in the movie Pinky, which was about a light skinned black woman who falls in love with a white doctor, though he is unaware of her race. McKinney played the jealous girlfriend to the light skinned African American woman who was played by a Caucasian actor, Jeanne Crain.

Nina Mae McKinney worked in a industry that chose to use Caucasian people to play African Americans for lead roles to tell stories ABOUT African Americans.

McKinney was born in 1912 in Lancaster, South Carolina. She moved to New York City at the age of 12 to join her parents who moved there to find better work like many others during the Great Migration. She loved performing an had been in plays at school. She debuted in the chorus line of Blackbirds of 1928 which starred Bill Bojangles Robinson. After that she landed a role in the movie Hallelujah by King Vidor, who was nominated for an academy award for directing.

She signed a 5-year contract with MGM after the success of Hallelujah. She did a few films after that, but the studio would not put her in a leading role which was frustrating after her success in the other roles. McKinney was stuck playing supporting roles. Like many actors of her hue, she found that the studio only wanted her in certain roles which were very career limiting. Imagine being called the Black Garbo, but not getting a chance to prove it. In 1935 she made Sanders of the River with Paul Robeson.

She and Robeson were promised the roles of the Africans in the movie would depict them respectfully, the film was later cut to change that. Even though McKinney was a triple threat because she could sing, dance and act, she was only offered roles as maids. She moved to Europe where she worked in nightclubs and theaters, doing an occasional movie. But eventually moved back to the United States in 1939 when Germany invaded Poland.

She played maids and sex workers because those were the roles offered to people of color during that time period. She would get an occasional role that was off that path. In 1949 she landed the role of the jealous girlfriend in Pinky starring Jean Crain, Ethel Barrymore and Ethel Waters.

In 1951, she performed her last role in summer stock. She moved back to New York City in 1960. She died in 1967.

She lived the best life she could and we are the better for it. In 1978 she was awarded a lifetime achievement in the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame.