By Mark Bacon
Most of us are still trying to process the horror of the last week. From the murders-by-police of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile by cops in Louisiana and Minnesota, to the retaliatory sniper attack that killed five police officers in Dallas.
The madness has gone on long enough. Thought Ferguson would teach us a lesson? Trayvon? Eric Garner? No. It sadly has not. And police are increasingly more brazen in their violent actions. Too much to process.
New York Knicks star Carmelo Anthony is finished processing. He is ready to take action, and he wants his fellow athletes to join him.
In a passionate post on Instagram, Anthony paid homage to the work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, and Muhammad Ali, and said that he was willing to lead a charge against “the system.”
“These politicians have to step up and fight for change. I’m calling for all my fellow ATHLETES to step up and take charge,” he wrote. “Go to your local officials, leaders, congressman, assemblymen/assemblywoman and demand change. There’s NO more sitting back and being afraid of tackling and addressing political issues anymore. Those days are long gone. We have to step up and take charge. We can’t worry about what endorsements we gonna lose or [who’s] going to look at us crazy.”
Anthony cautioned that we “have to be smart about what we are doing though,” and stressed that retaliating against police officers with more violence was not the answer.
The photo he included in his statement was from 1967, when a collection of top black athletes — including Jim Brown and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar — held a news conference to support Muhammad Ali’s refusal to be drafted into the Army during the Vietnam War.
LeBron James, one of Anthony’s closest friends, shared Anthony’s post with a message that it was “on point.”
This is not the first time that Anthony has been outspoken about issues close to the Black Lives Matter movement. Last April, Anthony — who was raised in West Baltimore — joined a march through the streets of Baltimore to protest the death of Freddie Gray at the hands of the police.
In December, he spoke out against gun violence the day after his Knicks teammate, Cleanthony Early, was shot in the knee. He also appeared in a NBA PSA about ending gun violence, which was a collaboration between the league, Everytown for Gun Safety, and Spike Lee.
“You can go around the corner and get a gun, you can go to this person and get a gun — it’s just too easy, too accessible,” Anthony said. “And it’s going to be like that until we decide, as people, to fight against that.”
“I need your voices to be heard. We can demand change,” Anthony said on Instagram. “We just have to be willing to. THE TIME IS NOW. IM all in. Take Charge. Take Action. DEMAND CHANGE.”
Carmelo is taking the right steps, sounding the right call and asking for the right people to help him get the word out. In the halcyon last 9 days of mad spending by NBA teams, and a perception of players only thinking about “money money money, big money money money,” it’s uplifting and fantastic to see Mr. Anthony sound a call of reason and an understanding of the platform his occupation and fame provide him. I personally applaud Carmelo, hell, standing ovation, and hope LeBron, DWade, Curry and other NBA players—and athletes—step up and sound off.
THE FULL TEXT OF CARMELO’S INSTAGRAM POST: “First off let me start off by saying " All Praise Due To The Most High." Secondly, I'm all about rallying, protesting, fighting for OUR people. Look I'll even lead the charge, By Any Means Necessary. We have to be smart about what we are doing though. We need to steer our anger in the right direction. The system is Broken. Point blank period. It has been this way forever. Martin Luther King marched. Malcolm X rebelled. Muhammad Ali literally fought for US. Our anger should be towards the system. If the system doesn't change we will continue to turn on the TVs and see the same thing. We have to put the pressure on the people in charge in order to get this thing we call JUSTICE right. A march doesn't work. We tried that. I've tried that. A couple social media post/tweet doesn't work. We've all tried that. That didn't work. Shooting 11 cops and killing 5 WILL NOT work. While I don't have a solution, and I'm pretty sure a lot of people don't have a solution, we need to come together more than anything at this time. We need each other. These politicians have to step up and fight for change. I'm calling for all my fellow ATHLETES to step up and take charge. Go to your local officials, leaders, congressman, assemblymen/assemblywoman and demand change. There's NO more sitting back and being afraid of tackling and addressing political issues anymore. Those days are long gone. We have to step up and take charge. We can't worry about what endorsements we gonna lose or whose going to look at us crazy. I need your voices to be heard. We can demand change. We just have to be willing to. THE TIME IS NOW. IM all in. Take Charge. Take Action. DEMAND CHANGE. Peace7 #StayMe7o”
No comments:
Post a Comment