Michael Holding, as a fast bowler for the West Indies cricket team in the 1970s and 1980s, was, indubitably, one of the greatest of all time. Since that time he has been a cricket commentator.
Michael is some 11 years older than me, so, as a fanatical cricketer and cricket fan in my teens and early 20s (and a fast bowler too), I watched “Whispering Death” and the utterly dominant “Windies” team of that era as much as I could.
With all of that, though, yesterday, in less than five minutes, unscripted, speaking from the heart, his power, eloquence and passion stirred me more than any delivery he ever made as a fast bowler.
In the last three days, my daily posts have been on a) asking “who you can amplify“, b) on amplifying the words of a brilliant friend on the “colonialist economic warfare” that will continue to be wrought on smaller nations until we choose to stop this happening, then c) a post including a powerful speech scripted by the genius that is Aaron Sorkin.
Cricket is a sport of the British Empire, so deeply, deeply rooted in colonialism and, in his words, in the “dehumanisation of the black race”.
Yesterday Michael Holding, when asked to talk about racism in cricket, launched into a monologue. In around 4.5 minutes he said so much, so powerfully.
Today I choose to amplify the voice of Michael Holding, to maintain the focus on systemic racism, as well as for those of you who lead through communication, to offer you this masterful monologue.
Michael speaks from the start of this clip for the first five minutes.
Oh, and here is a clip of the great man, probably one of the fastest bowlers ever, yet when you watched his run up and delivery it seemed so effortless