By Melissa Ramus
Photographer: Rashad Griffin Sr.
For a long time, many spaces in sports media didn’t always
reflect the communities that truly live and breathe the sport.
You could look across press rows, photo pits and broadcast
booths at some of the biggest events in the country and rarely
see faces that looked like ours. That wasn’t by accident —
it was by design.
But slowly and surely, that is changing.
When I started Cali Camera Media, the mission was simple:
document the moments that matter, tell the stories that
deserve to be told, and make sure our communities are
represented the right way. Not as spectators. Not as
afterthoughts. But as the photographers, writers and
storytellers who shape how sports and culture are remembered.
That mission has taken us everywhere. From the sidelines
of NFL and NBA games to the pit lanes of NASCAR. From
local community events in San Diego to some of the
biggest stages in professional sports. Every credential,
every press pass, every photo is a statement — we belong
here.
Getting to NASCAR was a milestone I won’t forget. Standing
pitside, watching the machines roar past at full speed,
camera in hand — it hit different knowing what it took to
get there. The access, the opportunity, the visibility for
photographers who look like me in a space that hasn’t
always welcomed us.
Michael Jordan’s presence in NASCAR as a team owner through
23XI Racing has been a powerful symbol of that shift. When
the greatest basketball player of all time invests in
bringing diversity to NASCAR, it signals to an entire
generation that this sport is for us too. His commitment
to expanding representation at every level of the sport
is something I deeply respect.
The game was always ours. The culture was always ours.
Now the coverage is too.
Progress may be slow, but the door is open — and we’re
walking through it, cameras in hand, one shot at a time.
📸✊🏾
