Jason Collins Marches in Boston Pride Parade: Why his heroic actions are so much greater than anything, anyone could do on a basketball court

I sit on a curb, the weight of blue, purple, green and gold beads weigh heavy around my lightly sunburned neck. On my wrist are three of those rubber bracelets. "Boston Strong" reads one of them and well the other two have the word Walgreen's scrawled across them. Nonetheless as I look away from the shawg I am now wearing, I hear a loud forthcoming of jubilant exclamation. I crane my neck and slowly but surely the smiling figure of a tall dark skinned man comes into view. I smile. Why? Because this gleeful man is a hero, a true epitome of bravery and courage and a driving light of how every now and then when sports a politics collide our great games turn into something far more than a game. They turn into a part of the nations culture and the true part of life that they began as.

Who was this man? Where was I? This man was Jason Collins and this well attended event of thrill and self expression was the Boston Pride Parade. The gleeful cheers and the ear to ear grins of those crowding around the edges of those Boston streets was the wonderful by product of the collision of two cultural pieces in America's historic fabric.

Joining the national spotlight back on the 29th of April, Collins became famous when he and a collection of sports writers published an 8 page article in the weekly magazine Sports Illustrated. The article was centered around one opening quote; "I'm a 34-year-old NBA center. I'm black. And I'm gay." 

For the first time in pro sports history an openly gay man was on a team's roster. And for an entire national community of gay men and women, that picture of Jason Paul Collins waving to a crowd of cheering parade attendees with the words #BETRUE scrawled across his chest, ought to feel pretty good.  

Jason Collins is a figure, a beacon of hope for a nation of gay athletes and sports fans. A little over a month ago he proved to a version of the USA often livid with far harsher examples of oppression than we would chose to believe exist, that he was not willing to remain silent. He connected with people and even if Collins never hits the court again and even though he only averaged 9 minutes of playing time last year what he has done is something far greater than any achievement  he could bring to his team during a game. Jason Collins is a hero, Jason Collins is a marcher Jason Collins is an activist, and Jason Collins is a 34 year old NBA center, he is black and he is gay.