Next month, the USA women’s and men’s teams will be in Brazil competing to once again win gold at the Olympics. Before they set their sights on gold medals, players from both teams decided to tackle the issue of black lives.
Players from both teams, as well as community leaders participated in a community forum hosted by Carmelo Anthony in Los Angeles. Among those who also took part was the Indiana Fever’s Tamika Catchings.
The event itself was not open to press for the purposes of encouraging open and unfettered dialogue among attendees, but Catchings, Anthony, and others did further address the media regarding the event and race relations in a news conference shortly afterwards.
Anthony said the forum began with everyone discussing various topics in one big group before everyone broke down into smaller groups that included athletes and community leaders.
According to the New York Times, Catchings said she had plans to talk to Paul George, who plays for the Indiana Pacers and is a member of the men’s national team, about holding a similar forum in Indianapolis.
She also recalled young people mentioning how scared they become when they are approached by police officers with their hands on their guns.
“One young lady said that when she when she got off the bus and saw the uniform, right off the bat, she was scared.”—Tamika Catchings
Anthony also mentioned that the forum received a lot of feedback from young people who feel affected by these issues. He also addressed recent remarks by Charlotte Hornets owner Michael Jordan made to The Undefeated in which he spoke out against the shootings of African-Americans by police officers.
He described Jordan’s remarks as “brilliant.”
“About time that he stepped up and said what he said, because he’s, at the end of the day, amongst us. He is our face. He’s an African-American, a very powerful African-American. So for him to step up in the midst of these times right now, it was very big on his behalf.”–Carmelo Anthony
As of late, Anthony has been extremely vocal about social issues, including urging other players to raise their voices as well as participating in an opening message at the ESPYs with LeBron James, Chris Paul, and Dwyane Wade, imploring for an end to the violence.
Catchings came away from the event feeling confident that things are moving forward.
“When you have conversations like that and you get feedback like that, we know we’re going in the right direction.”—Tamika Catchings
Luckily for those of us who were not in L.A., the entire forum was broadcast on Facebook Live. Check out the entire discussion below:
By: Akiem Bailum (@AkiemBailum on Twitter, Instagram)
