NFL-INSPIRED “SAFETY HUDDLE" CHEERS ON EQUAL RIGHTS CENTENNIAL
A team of forty individuals, wearing colorful football jerseys, will take the field in Seneca Falls, NY on August 17, the eve of centennial of an equality milestone: the ratification of the 19th Amendment. Their playbook calls for a circle formation tentatively nicknamed the “safety huddle” consisting of 40 hula hoops, 6’ separated apart and each occupied by a single woman, man, or child. Each will wear a mask and an unauthorized NFL-replica jersey screen printed with a women’s empowerment portrait from that corresponding city. One by one, each participant will read a short biography off the back of a collectible trading card, rooting proudly for women’s empowerment as if their team just won the Super Bowl.
The concept to use male sports’ popularity to champion women’s equality is a year-long initiative started by Alfred University’s Art Force 5, a collective of students from across the country. The program strives to make accessible conversations about equality through fun, community art. One year ago, the team began crashing NFL parking lots inviting fans to each paint one simple tile in a mosaic portrait of 300 tiles. With Buffalo Bills fans, they honored Susan B. Anthony. Nellie Bly in Pittsburgh. Harriet Tubman in Baltimore. Dorothy Dandridge in Cleveland. Shirley Chisholm for the Jets and Mary McLeod Bethune in Miami. Most fans were reluctant at first but they quickly warmed to the idea and engaged in meaningful dialogue. And then before the 2020 NFL college draft, the Art Force completed the full set by researching and producing 32 sets of jerseys, one for each NFL city.
The NFL took notice as NFL Network Creative Director Trent Cooper, an alum of Alfred University, tapped the Art Force 5 to design projects both filmed and featured on NFL Network. The first was a 2019 mosaic project in Atlanta alongside NFL players Kenyon Drake and Dalvin Tomlinson. In 2020, NFL Network featured the first ever “Women’s Empowerment Draft,” a collaboration with NFL Network anchor Lindsay Rhodes. After the April “W.E. Draft” broadcast, the art jersey and accompanying trading cards were requested by numerous educators and fans throughout the country. Several National Women’s Soccer League players requested jerseys so the Art Force designed a new set highlighting icons from NWSL cities.
NYS Legislator Tracy DiFlorio will be joining the event and shared, "I'm proud to stand alongside Art Force 5 as we pay tribute to the female leaders of the past and present and celebrate the centennial of the ratification of the 19th Amendment. Seneca Falls is often referred to as the 'Birthplace of Women's Rights'; it is a place that embodies and brings to life the struggles and strides of female leaders of the past that led us to where we are today. Our work to ensure true women's equality is ongoing, but I am confident that alongside organizations like Art Force 5 and other strong female leaders, the best is yet to come. As Susan B. Anthony so famously said in her final speech, 'failure is impossible!'"
The program is recruiting a few last volunteers for the August 17 event, with plans to announce the location only to this small group to avoid too large of a gathering. The event will organize at 6:30pm Monday and conduct their tribute beginning at 7pm and likely to run 40 minutes. Prearranged press contacts will be invited to safely stand within the inside the large circle to collect footage and photographs to use for any August 18 stories (the actual centennial). Those interested in participating or covering the story are asked to contact program director Dan Napolitano at ARTFORCE5@alfred.edu