“If we don’t change the foundation that has led to the inequities and inequalities that we’re dealing with, then ultimately, there’s going to be still some institutional racism that exists.” If a strong and equitable society is like a mountain, “no peak exists without a base to the mountains,” Ford explained. The Empowered Youth Program serves people of color ages 14-20 from underprivileged communities in central Iowa and aims to give the members an equitable chance at living healthy and prosperous lives.įord used a metaphor from a book by Robert Livingston to explain the focus on empowering young people. Project Onyx is focused on younger generations and instigating change early in life. The mission of the nonprofit is to eliminate the barriers that underrepresented and underserved people of color face by providing affordable and accessible health and fitness services, offering mentorship for youth and future professionals, and empowering Black and Brown communities to take charge in a challenging cultural landscape while staying healthy and active. Project Onyx was officially founded in September 2020. Muhammad said in order to continue to push for diversity, equity, and inclusion in CrossFit, more Black people will need to discover the community, and two ways to do that include accessibility and representation. In the CrossFit space - training, teaching seminars, going to competitions - you don’t see many Black people, so you stand out so much.” So everything that I’ve done has revolved around CrossFit. Then I became one of the fittest in the world. “I got out of college and I became a CrossFit coach. “The only job I’ve ever had is CrossFit,” Muhammad said. Muhammad said helping to diversify the health and fitness space, especially in CrossFit, is something he finds great value in. These kids need us now, and we have to try to make the change.’” Let’s just get it off the ground, because I don’t want to wait. “‘Why wait for people to give us the go? … We’ll learn as we go …. Within 10 minutes, “We got started,” Ford said. So I literally just started looking up research papers about racial health disparities to see what they were, how they existed, and why they existed.”įord reached out to a fellow leader in the fitness community in Muhammad, a two-time CrossFit Games athlete and owner of CrossFit Unorthodox, to see if he would be a part of the project. Unsure of how to initiate change effectively, Ford took to what he knows best. “I was in a profession where I was helping people, but I wasn’t helping my people as much as I should - Black Americans,” Ford said. While reflecting on his own life experiences as a biracial Black American, “I just decided to, you know, start doing something that I knew to help,” Ford explained. Last June, Muhammad received a call from Patrick Ford, a nearby physical therapist who was motivated to use his expertise in health and wellness to “help eliminate fitness and health disparities in the Black and Brown communities.” By using this website, you consent to the processing of data about you by Google in the manner and for the purposes set out above.“Sometimes you don’t really know what to do, so you just start doing something and figure it out as you go!” Elijah Muhammad wrote in an Instagram post reflecting on the origins of Project Onyx. You may refuse the use of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser, however please note that if you do this you may not be able to use the full functionality of this website. Google will not associate your IP address with any other data held by Google. Transfer this information to third parties where required to do so by law, or where such third parties process the information on Google’s behalf. Google may use the data collected to contextualize and personalize the ads of its own advertising network. Google will use this information for the purpose of evaluating your use of the website, compiling reports on website activity for website operators and providing other services relating to website activity and internet usage. The information generated by the Cookie about your use of the website (including your IP address) will be transmitted to and stored by Google on servers in the United States. This website uses Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc.
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