Andscape at the Olympics is an ongoing series exploring the Black athletes and culture around the 2024 Paris Games.
PARIS – Welcome to Andscape at the Olympics, a video series in which Andscape columnist William C. Rhoden, senior NBA writer Marc J. Spears and Andscape/ESPN commentator Ari Chambers will discuss the key topics about Black athletes and culture at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
In Episode 1, Rhoden and Spears talk about arriving in Paris for the start of the Games and beginning the series at Cafe Tournon, where Black American writers and artists such as Richard Wright, James Baldwin and cartoonist Ollie Harrington came to converse and find community in the 1950s.
The two discuss why Black American artists and writers flocked to France and the welcoming feeling of Paris to Black people (1:01), the chances of the USA Basketball men’s and women’s teams losing in Paris (5:30) and what they’re looking forward to and writing about in Paris, including the opening ceremony, Black gymnasts, breaking, 3×3 basketball (10:10).
