Em(Body)ing Paradoxes: The Enduring Power of Pseudo-Science & Myth of the “Natural” Black Athlete

Session 3: December 9, 7pm, Dominion-Chalmers Centre Title: Em(Body)ing Paradoxes: The Enduring Power of Pseudo-Science and the Myth of the “Natural” Black Athlete Description: The study of sporting bodies—like sport itself—are products of Western modernity. The larger-than-life figure of the Black athlete emerged at the turn of the 20th century alongside White European ‘sciences’ of human performance. Ensuing racist tales and fables of Black ‘natural’ physicality still permeate popular consciousness. In this talk, I map how such fantastical readings, legitimized by science and the White gaze, entrench a denial of Black self-determination, while inspiring a counternarrative Black imagination and mythologies. Biography: Born in Kigali, Rwanda, Dr. Ornella Nzindukiyimana (pronounced nzee-ndoo-key-yee-mah-nah) arrived in Ottawa, Canada at twelve years old. An avid soccer fan, she went on to pursue a Human Kinetics degree at the University of Ottawa (2011). In the last senior BSc year, she developed an interest in research after completing an honours project on Ottawa’s public baths in the early 20th century. The rest was history—sport history. She went on to complete an MA at Ottawa in 2013 (on Black Canadian history of swimming) and then a PhD at Western University in London, ON in 2018 (on Black women’s sport history in Ontario). Her work has appeared in forums such as Sport History Review, Loisir et Société /Society & Leisure, the Journal of Canadian Studies, and The International Journal of the History of Sport, and she has presented at multiple national and international conferences. She currently teaches sport history and sociology courses.