Dr. Marlon Moncrieffe chronicled the history, trials, and triumphs of Black cyclists in his book “New Black Cyclones – Racism, Representation and Revolutions of Power in Cycling.”
“I’m using the past to understand the present,” he said. “And taking the voices of current Black cyclists to understand what might be the future of our representation in the sport.”
“New Black Cyclones” will be released on February 18 and is available for presale at this link: https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/search/?q=Moncrieffe
Moncrieffe takes the reader to several cycling communities throughout America and several countries in Africa, highlighting their perspectives on racial issues and general experiences.
“New Black Cyclones” gives the history of Marshall Walter “Major” Taylor, an American cyclist who won the World Championships in 1899. Moncrieffe described Taylor as a Jesus Christ-like figure due to his devout Christianity and how he has been honored by Black American cyclists long after his death.
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“I think it must be about 80 clubs across the USA called Major Taylor,” Moncrieffe said. “He’s the original Black Cyclone. The press used to call him the Black Cyclone.”
As a cycling World Champion from Great Britain, Moncrieffe noticed how white cyclists were getting more publicity than their Black British counterparts as the sport gained popularity. During the 2012 London Summer Olympics, the Great Britain National team was completely white, according to Moncrieffe.
“Being a conscious Black British man, I said “What about the stories and the lives of Black cyclists?”” he said. “I reached out to Black cyclists that I knew. I said “I want to bring our stories together … I want to do some public engagement” and they all agreed.”
Cyclists lent their trophies, medals, and jerseys to Moncrieffe, and he created a public exhibition. This helped Moncrieffe create his first book “Desire Discrimination Determination -Black Champions of Cycling.”
In “New Black Cyclones” Moncrieffe touched upon how white-owned cycling brands would work with newly-created Black cycling groups. The trend came along in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement.
“I saw a lot of Black groups forming and riding their bicycles across the UK, across the USA,” Moncrieffe said. “There was this interest convergence from those white companies and you got young, new Black groups signing big deals with people.”
