Athletes are workers. Whether the commodification of play as sport is inherently and simply a socializing function of capitalism is neither here nor there: the fact remains that playing football — either as professionals in the NFL or the semi-professionals of the NCAA — is fundamentally an act of labor. Ostensibly the NCAA exists to protect and advocate for student-athletes; in reality, however, it only serves to insulate and isolate the unpaid labor-force of an industry that generates an estimated $6 billion in revenue annually.

The only recourse these athletes have is to strike — which is exactly what the football players of Grambling State, a historically black university in Louisiana, have done. This, even in the face of potentially having their scholarships revoked.

Last Tuesday, according to the Shreveport Times, the team walked out of a meeting with university president Frank Pogue, athletic director Aaron James, interim coach George Ragsdale — who started the season as running back coach — and student government president Jordan Harvey.