Dear Commons Community,
New York City rocked yesterday for the ticker-tape parade that was held for the World Cup Champion Women’s Soccer Team. Tens of thousands of supporters lined the street to watch the floats go by and to cheer on their heroines. The parade concluded with Mayor Bill de Blasio giving them keys to the city. Co-Captain Megan Rapinoe’s eight-minute concluding comments (see video above) were among the high-points.
“Just shoutout to the teammates … We’re chillin’. We’ve got tea sippin’. We’ve got celebrations. We have pink hair and purple hair. We have tattoos and dreadlocks. We’ve got white girls and black girls, and everything in between. Straight girls and gay girls. Hey!” she said of her team.
“This is my charge to everyone. We have to be better. We have to love more. Hate less. We got to listen more and talk less. We got to know that this is everybody’s responsibility. Every single person here. Every single person’s who’s not here. Every single person who doesn’t want to be here. Every single person who agrees and doesn’t agree. It’s our responsibility to make this world a better place,” Rapinoe said.
“I think this team does an incredible job of taking that on our shoulders and understanding the position that we have and the platform that we have within this world. Yes, we play sports. Yes, we play soccer. Yes, we’re female athletes. But we’re so much more than that. You’re so much more than that.”
Rapinoe went on to implore listeners to make their communities better and “come together.”
“It’s every single person’s responsibility. There’s been so much contention in these last years. I’ve been a victim of that. I’ve been a perpetrator of that … But it’s time to come together. This conversation is at the next step. We have to collaborate. It takes everybody,” she said.
The World Cup winner ended her speech by giving a shout-out to New York City to raucous applause: “New York City, you’re the motherfucking best!”
Rapinoe and her teammates have captured America’s heart and soul!
Tony
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