Frank Andre Guridy’s The Stadium explores the civic role of sports stadiums and their transformation into centers for public good and activism. Stadiums have long served as public squares in the United States. And while present-day commentators such as Laura Ingraham might continue to tell politically active athletes to “shut up and dribble,” the sports, the athletes — and the environments in which they play — have always been vessels for political messages, too.
While the tale of the privatization of formerly publicly owned and operated stadium spaces is a global one, the movement of the stadium from city to suburb and back again — or to a different city entirely — is largely an American story. So, too, is the militarized patriotism generated by the rituals in stadium spaces after 9/11. Guridy wonderfully weaves a tapestry of analysis and narrative about these issues.