Coffey on Running While Being Black In America, 'About The People' Film on Social Justice, Equity and Race

"My grandfather told us from the jump, ‘Don’t ever let color separate you from anything. Don’t the color of green get you into any kind of trouble with another color but always accept another color besides your color and because we can all be a family together. Don’t worry about whoever it is that hates your color. You were born this color for a reason and wear it with pride.’ That’s what I’ve been doing since that day. I’m not afraid to speak my mind because I’m black. I just pay attention to my surroundings at all times at 110% level."

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Like many people throughout the country, I've been processing and thinking about all the current events happening since the murder of George Flloyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers. It's absolutely heartbreaking. I wanted to share this podcast episode that Leigh Anne Sharek and I shared on the Runners of NYC Podcast last month. I promise you that there will be more from me. I know in my role and with the platform that I've built, we can amplify, support and elevate Black voices. You can't make any progress or change in silence. So while I could have not posted any podcast this week, I'm re-posting this conversation onto the podcast feed with the most subscribers in our network because it deserves to be heard widely.

Our guest for this episode is Coffey. He is a father, husband, filmmaker, Nike running pacer and the founder of Define New York Run Club. This conversation was on our schedule before the Ahmaud Arbery shooting but we take the first 30 minutes of our talk to address the story, its impact on him and how he relates to the likes of Ahmaud Arbery, Michael Brown and Trayvon Martin. We go back to his roots in North Carolina, how he got his start in fashion and filmmaking, why he got hooked on group running and then ultimately starting his own group.

You may have seen him on recent episodes of ‘For Life’ but his big project has been the short film “About the People” which hosts a very powerful and honest conversation about social justice and inequalities by black and brown men at the hands of police brutality. Coffey was one of the writers on the film and drew some inspiration from the conversations he’s had to have with his oldest son on police brutality.

Follow Coffey on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ThatCoffeyBoy/

Follow Define New York Run Club: https://www.instagram.com/DefineNewYorkRunClub/

More on 'About The People': https://www.instagram.com/AboutThePeopleFilm/

WATCH: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MItfknF6Yb0