"I don't like to fight people...but you can't get by without fighting."
The words are chilling, yet ring true like bars from Nas in his earlier, grittier days.
It's the words of Nzingha Prescod, the #2 ranked women's foil fencer in the United States, and she's the best chance an African-American woman has ever had in attaining a medal at the Olympics.
Last year, Prescod was the first African-American woman to medal at the Senior World Championships. If she can repeat the feat in Rio at the 2016 Summer Olympics, she will be the first black woman to do so in the history of the sport.
Her story is one that started like many others around the world, it was her mom's bright idea. A mother who encouraged her at the age of 9 to learn the art of fencing at the Peter Westbrook Foundation. She wasn't alone, as she was flanked by her sister, and her best friend. She was able to fence because a legend in Peter Westbrook thought it was important to make the sport accessible to minorities, regardless of the cost. Before fencing, it was ballet, gymnastics, tennis, swimming, and karate...to name a few. But fencing called out to her, and she fell in love.
"I think I fell in love with fencing because you never do the same thing twice. You could fence the same person every day and it's always going to be different." -- Prescod, in an interview with espnW
I would encourage anyone interested in learning about how someone who has no business being near something, finds a way to get to the pinnacle of said thing. Prescod's story is the epitome of just that, a mission daring the impossible. Kudos to Anderson Wright and his team for producing an awesome mini-film on Prescod's story, aptly named, "Nzingha".
Related: Fencer Nzingha Prescod on her sport, her curves and her namesake (espnW)
Eddie Maisonet is the founder and editor emeritus of The Sports Fan Journal. Currently, he serves as an associate editor for ESPN.com. He is an unabashed Russell Westbrook and Barry Switzer apologist, owns over 100 fitteds and snapbacks, and lives by Reggie Jackson’s famous quote, “I am the straw that stirs the drink.”