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Black History Month Feature Series Graphic, Samier Kinsler - Feb. 28, 2024

Black History Month: Sit Down with Samier Kinsler

2/28/2024 10:00:00 AM

By: Hayden Mangan, Assistant Director of Athletic Communications
DURANGO, Colo. – Every Wednesday during February, Black History Month, Fort Lewis College athletics is sitting down with a member of our Skyhawks community to recognize, celebrate, and champion the contributions of our Black student-athletes, not only athletically, but on campus, academically, and in the Division II landscape.
 
Featured during the final week of Black History Month is Samier Kinsler, a BOXTOROW, Division II HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) Second-Team All-American product from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A recent transfer from West Virginia State and current member of the Fort Lewis men's basketball team, Kinsler has played a pivotal role in the Skyhawks' ascension to a No. 2 national ranking and 24-2 overall record all while looking to contend for the program's second-straight Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference regular-season championship and a chance to host the conference tournament.
 
Get to know Samier Kinsler:
 
 
Q: What does Black History Month mean to you?
Kinsler: It's a time to celebrate and voice everything that happened to people like me, and everyone else in reality, no matter their color. It's a time to come out, be open, and accept everything that's happened.
 
Q: Why is it important to center Black voices, especially in the athletics community?
Kinsler: I believe it's important to center Black voices because there aren't too many. Sometimes Black voices have a change and a viewpoint that others don't see. Especially in athletics, a lot of young Black athletes, boys or girls, are trying to become athletes and pursue their careers. Having a voice, someone to have your back, and somebody to talk to who can understand where you come from makes a difference.
 
Q: Can you think of a mentor or role model who inspired you to further your athletics and academic career?
Kinsler: I have two people growing up, firstly my mother. I've seen her never quit, never back down. I've seen her go from the bottom all the way back to the top, and that just drove me to keep going and never quit. Another is Paul Gripper. When I was at a tough point in my life when everything was going left, he brought me in. He was welcoming, showed me I could make it, and gave me the encouragement and the love to say, "You can do this. You don't have to be like everyone else and be a product of your environment, you can make it out."
 
Q: When did you know that you wanted to pursue college athletics? What did that process look like for you?
Kinsler: I went through a lot of hardships when I was younger, but when I got to eleventh grade, I started taking basketball seriously. I started to see that if I started to put the work in, that this might work. College coaches started calling, and I was always good at school, so I told myself, "Yeah, I can play college basketball."
 
Q: Can you share the significance of being a Black student-athlete at Fort Lewis College?
Kinsler: Being a Black student-athlete, especially at Fort Lewis College, has been amazing. As we all know, there aren't too many of us here. But the ones that are here, we talk to each other, keep each other grounded, keep each other at home, and keep each other welcomed. Just being here and being a student-athlete at Fort Lewis in general, Black, or not, is just a great time and a great environment. We have the chance to be ourselves, no matter what. You can express yourself in any way and not get judged for it.
 
Q: You're from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on the East Coast, have you noticed any cultural differences within the Black Community as you've moved out West? 
Kinsler: Yes. Back in Philadelphia, it's predominantly Black, you see more Black people than white people in the community and I feel like racism isn't a big thing. With the Black community and moving out West, I feel like the groups are smaller. And I feel as though we don't come out and talk to each other as much because we're more separated, and I feel like that's something that should change. But the difference I've noticed is how we approach things. In Philadelphia, you don't talk to each other when you walk past the street, you don't smile, you keep your head down, and get to where you have to go. Being out West, I can say it's way more friendly, way more comfortable, way more open, and way more acceptable to be who you are as a person.
 
Q: What advice do you have for Black athletes who are looking to follow your path?
Kinsler: For the young athletes or older athletes that want to follow my path, I say just don't stop. If you quit, you never know what it could be. But if you don't quit, you never know. I understand that's kind of different to say, but it's what I was raised on. If you quit tomorrow, it will all be a wisha, coulda, shoulda. But, if you don't, and you push through, and you make it, that joy and success from that risk is one of the best things you can ever have.   
 
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