My wife and I thoroughly enjoy the Olympics - that’s just something we both get into when it comes around. Checking scores throughout the day and cheering on our country’s finest athletes, all good fun. The 2008 Beijing Olympics are particularly interesting and exciting to me because of one young man: Cullen Jones. Cullen is making waves, yes literally, in the sport of swimming by being one of a handful of African American Olympic participants. He recently, helped Team USA win gold in the 4 x 100 relay. It was an awesome display of focus, determination and athletic ability that I was all too happy to be jumping up and down and cheering for.

Then recently, Marilyn sent me the link to what Cullen is doing for young African American children and getting them to get into the sport of swimming. Now as an African American male, I’ve heard over and over the phrase that “we just don’t swim” or “you know all we do is drown!” - something along those lines. As Cullen was recently interviewed on Good Morning America, this is what he had to say about that:
You’ve gotten a whole culture to believe that swimming isn’t something that they do or they’re not, I guess, physically capable of doing,” Jones said. “We have changed that stereotype.
This made me think about how those working in the public and community health fields are continually tasked with informing individuals who may think one way about something and that way of thinking may be to their detriment. Young people who (falsely) believe they cannot contract an STD from a certain unsafe sexual practice are in danger. Commuters who don’t believe wearing a saftey belt is always important are in danger. Specific ethnic groups who believe that swimming is just “not their thing” are also in danger.

We have to begin understanding that this new age of communication, with computers and the Internet and the innovative ways in which information is passed around is a perfect way to eliminate false notions and incorrect information. For years, the Health On the Net (HON) code has been used to credit health focused websites on their correct information. If we want to change the minds of target audiences, it is imperative to understand how people are getting informed and if that information is incorrect, we need to create ways in which to change that! Cullen Jones is bold about his efforts to transform minds - he is reaching out to an audience that may never have known differently and that is the beauty of the time we are in now. It is necessary to be bold about the tools we use to change minds and inform.

It’s time to dive in.

This is a two part series in which I will be connecting the great strides that Olympic swimmer Cullen Jones is making to change stereotypes with the work of the public and community health field. Part 1 has introduced you to the swimmer, what he is doing with his foundation and how important it is to be innovative about reaching your target audience on and offline and improving knowledge. Part 2 will focus on how Cullen is a great example of improving access to a group of people who want to learn. Think access to technology and the Internet. Stay tuned.