LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, And Chris Paul Give Black Lives Matter ESPYs Speech


https://youtu.be/KCjMvEdPi30

LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, and Chris Paul opened this year’s ESPYs with a moving speech on racism, police brutality, and gun violence.

“We asked to start the show tonight this way, the four of us talking to our fellow athletes with the country watching because we cannot ignore the current state of America,” said Anthony. “The events of the past week have put a spotlight on the injustice, distrust and anger that plagued so many of us. The system is broken.”

Paul took the mic next to address the crowd. “We stand here accepting our role in uniting communities to be the change we need to see,” he said before naming a number of black teenagers and men who have been killed by the police including Michael Brown, Philandro Castile, and Alton Sterling. He also mentioned Trayvon Martin, who was killed by George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer, as well as the slain Dallas police officers and clubgoers who were killed in Orlando’s Pulse nightclub.

“The system is broken,” Paul continued. “And the racial divide is definitely not new. But the urgency to create change is at an all-time high.”

Wade followed through with some powerful words of his own as well.

“The racial profiling has to stop. The shoot-to-kill mentality has to stop. Enough is enough. Now, as athletes, it’s on us to challenge each other to do even more than what we already do in our own communities,” he said. “It’s time to look in the mirror and ask ourselves, ‘What are we doing to create change?’ Let’s use this moment as a call to action for all athletes to educate ourselves. We all have to do better.”

Afterwards, Bill Clinton tweeted that he was “inspired” by the speech.

The speech comes after years of criticism towards NBA players for not speaking out against the number of black men and women who have died at the hands of the police. In 2014, there were calls for the players to sit out of the sports games after a New York police officer choked Eric Garner to death. Instead, the players came out with T-shirts designed with Garner’s last words,”I Can’t Breathe,” during the pre-game warm-ups. James, Kobe Bryant, and Derrick Rose were some of the NBA ballers to participate.

Celebrities in general have been criticized for not speaking out when it matters as well. But after the shootings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, the A-listers have been coming out in droves. Beyoncé, Jay Z, Kim Kardashian, Chris Brown, Snoop Dogg, and Kevin Hart are just some of the celebs who’ve publicly stated “Black Lives Matter” in light of the recent news.

“We are sick and tired of the killings of young men and women in our communities. It is up to us to take a stand and demand that they ‘stop killing us,'” read Beyoncé’s message on Instagram. The pop queen also spoke about the seven officers who were gunned down not too far from her hometown in Houston. “Rest in peace to the officers whose lives were senselessly taken yesterday in Dallas,” it read. “No violence will create peace. Every human life is valuable. We must be the solution. Every human being has the right to gather in peaceful protest without suffering more unnecessary violence. To effect change we must show love in the face of hate and peace in the face of violence.”

Kardashian, who has two children with Kanye West, also wrote about her fear for her children.

“I want my children to grow up knowing that their lives matter,” read Kardashian’s message. “I do not ever want to have to teach my son to be scared of the police, or tell him that he has to watch his back because the people we are told to trust—the people who ‘protect and serve’—may not be protecting and serving him because of the color of his skin.”

[Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images]

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