MLS discusses the black American soccer experience and gets it right

“During Black History Month, MLS invited five members of the soccer community to discuss race and the black experience in American soccer”

What follows is an eloquent, stimulating, thought-provoking conversation inside an Italian NY kitchen as the group of five spends the next 40 minutes reminiscing about the unique trials and tribulations of African-Americans in the soccer world.

Starring Greg Howard, a David Carr Fellow at the New York Times, Toronto FC striker Jozy Altidore, USWNT forward Lynn Williams, FC Harlem founder Irv Smalls and host Kevin Brown, its a engrossing listen. The segment isn’t overly preachy, not at all. Rather, its success comes from providing a platform for an underrepresented demographic of American soccer to fully express themselves without a filter. If you think that sounds good, well, the results speak for themselves.

Credit to the league for getting this right.

If I do have one criticism, the MLS website for whatever reason chose to wait until the last day of February to post the roundtable, then tweeted the article late in the day during the President’s speech. It’s almost as if they don’t realize they have a gold mine on their hands.

I highly recommend all of our readers give it a robust listen.