The struggle was never more real than when the pandemic shut the world down last year. In the past, I didn't feel comfortable going to a yoga or Pilates class or even walking on a treadmill in public. 'The only brown face in a sea of white'Bankins joins a growing group of Black professionals trying to make the fitness space more welcoming a diverse clientele. "To be a Black professional in the boutique fitness world is to be accustomed to being the only brown face in a sea of white," wrote Rozalynn S. Frazier in a 2020 piece for Self magazine about being Black in the fitness world. "With classes hovering at $40 in some cities, and spaces not designed to welcome anyone but the able-bodied, the boutique fitness space just doesn't seem to be made for people who don't fit a certain mold."

Source: CNN May 25, 2021 07:41 UTC