AS I SEE IT COLUMN: A ‘woke’ sport is an enlightened sport

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Did you get to see Olivia Stedman sing the U.S. and Canadian national anthems at the Jets-Seattle game last week?

If you didn’t, you may have read about her incredibly inspiring story in the Free Press or watched clips in social media or saw her story on the news.

If this is all new to you, you should know that at that game, 22-year-old Olivia Stedman got to fulfill her dream of singing the national anthem at a Jets game, thanks to the kindness of Jets co-owner Mark Chipman who graciously made Olivia’s dream come true, the unending support of Olivia’s amazing family, the organizations (like Inclusion Winnipeg and the Movement Centre of Manitoba) that have helped Olivia and her family on their difficult journey and the public school teachers who have nurtured Olivia’s love of singing for most of her young life. (Full disclosure: I work in the school division Olivia recently graduated from.)

Olivia Stedman sang the anthem before the start of the Winnipeg Jets game. (Submitted)
Olivia Stedman sang the anthem before the start of the Winnipeg Jets game. (Submitted)

Olivia is blind from birth and has other serious challenges in her life because she had a stroke in her mother’s womb.

But last Thursday, none of that mattered. Her singing voice brought down the house. Olivia sang both anthems with confidence and a tonal quality that brought people to their feet and tears to their eyes.

Webster’s dictionary defines ‘woke’ as “aware of and actively attentive to important societal facts and issues.”

There are many people who work overtime trying to demonize the word “woke” or anything remotely related to DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion). What Chipman and the Jets did was to show the world what inclusion and diversity looks like, sounds like and feels like. There is a reason Olivia’s uplifting story has gone viral, and that’s because it was a genuinely beautiful moment.

Olivia was given a chance and she knocked it out of the park. She has worked on her singing voice for many years, but she needed a break to showcase her beautiful singing voice. Mark Chipman gave her that break, and we are all better for it.

What Chipman’s actions make clear is that by lifting others and recognizing that we all have strengths, is that everyone deserves to be included in life and treated with respect. Not just some people. Not just those who look like us. Everyone.

Sadly, many of the people speaking out against woke DEI policies are evangelical Christians. News flash — the Jesus you purport to worship is the all-time poster boy for wokeness. The core teachings of the New Testament you claim you follow is essentially a textbook for DEI. The Sermon on the Mount and the Beatitudes are the Rosetta Stones of treating others equally and with respect. The Golden Rule is wokeness and DEI to its core. The story of the Good Samaritan absolutely overflows with wokeness.

Chipman and the Jets deserve boat loads of credit for the many other ways they recognize and showcase diversity in Manitoba.

They thoughtfully open every home game with an Indigenous land acknowledgement. They honour the rich heritages of Filipinos, Ukrainians, South Asians and other ethnicities throughout the season.

At a time in history when so many people denigrate “others” who look different than most of us, the actions of the Jets – by giving Olivia her time in the spotlight, by acknowledging the peoples who took care of this land for thousands of years before any white people arrived, and by celebrating the fact our province is full of beautifully diverse cultures and ethnicities – are a breath of fresh air.

The reaction to Olivia’s beautiful voice has been so overwhelmingly positive that Chipman wants her to sing next season when the Jets are on national TV.

Well done Olivia Stedman and thank you Mark Chipman.

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