In the aftermath of the deaths of two Black men at the hands of overzealous, unrestrained police officers, and the subsequent murder of five police officers in Dallas by a 25-year-old Black man with a visceral reaction to the aforementioned homicides, prominent athletes have emerged as strong voices in a mass outcry for social justice and equality.
Alton Sterling, 37, and Philando Castile, who would have turned 33 July 16, were shot by police officers in Baton Rouge, La., and Falcon Heights, Minn., respectively. Sterling was killed July 5 and Castile July 6, stirring outrage from a racially and culturally diverse array of people who viewed the incidents as further evidence—as if any was needed—of the callous nature by which Black men are engaged by white, male law enforcement personnel.
Carmelo Anthony utilized his platform as a star basketball player in this country’s preeminent city to express his anger and implore fellow athletes to join him as catalysts of reform.
“I’m all about rallying, protesting, fighting for OUR people,” Anthony posted on Instagram. “We have to be smart about what we are doing though. We need to steer our anger in the right direction … Our anger should be towards the system … We have to put the pressure on the people in charge in order to get this thing we call JUSTICE right,” the 32-year-old evolving activist demanded.
“While I don’t have a solution, and I’m pretty sure a lot of people don’t have a solution … We have to step up and take charge. THE TIME IS NOW.” Anthony’s words were powerful and profound but will ring hollow if rhetoric is not followed by well planned, well executed action.
He humbly admitted to not having an answer to an issue that is painfully complex, an issue that has existed in American society since the first Black men and women were forcibly transported to the Eastern seaboard of the United States from Africa more than 400 years ago.
The dehumanizing and mental emasculation of Black men, and the intellectual and cultural theft that has manifested into the current state of cultural protectionism, heightened by Donald Trump’s vitriol during his rise as a presidential candidate, cannot and will not be eradicated in mere decades. It is too deeply rooted in this country’s soil. But athletes with the stature and economic means of Anthony can begin to gradually uproot it. As he stated in his heartfelt call to coalesce, “Look, I’ll even lead the charge, By Any Means Necessary.”
If and when it begins, the charge he wrote of must be sustained over generations. And that means the creation of the first global, multiracial organization founded and controlled by some of the world’s most prominent athletes, athletes who are unwaveringly committed to disrupting racially biased systems that are at the heart of police wantonly killing Black men.
Young athletes must be consistently integrated into leadership roles so that the organization indeed becomes a movement, progressing 20, 30, 50 years after the cheering on the court ends for Anthony. It’s an ambitious vision. But it is the only vision if athletes are going to tangibly alter the course of justice and equality.