Carmelo Anthony, Michael Jordan seek to build bridges with police
Carmelo Anthony鈥檚 prowess is well known on the basketball court 鈥� as a forward for the New York Knicks he's averaged 21 points a game this season, and as a member of the Olympic team, he will represent the United States on the international basketball stage next month.
But on Monday, Mr. Anthony set up a different kind of play, calling together basketball stars, police officers, community leaders, and young people for a two-hour about respect and communication at a Los Angeles Boys and Girls Club.
The meeting was meant to open up a dialogue to begin to mend relationships between community and police, said Anthony. He is among other National Basketball Association and Women's National Basketball Association players who have been using their position as role models and major figures in the American spotlight to speak out for change, particularly in the wake of violence this month, which included fatal police shootings of black men in Louisiana and Minnesota and deadly retaliation against police in Dallas and Baton Rouge, La.
The town hall meeting gathered together about 200 people and gave Los Angeles youth a platform to explain 鈥渉ow they feel about their community, how they feel about police officers, how they feel about relationships and how we can mend these relationships,鈥� Anthony said, according to the Associated Press.
The meeting comes as a form of tangible action after Anthony posted a powerful message on Instagram recently where he called on fellow players to 鈥渄emand change鈥� of a 鈥渂roken鈥� system. In that post, reportedly composed in the middle of a sleepless night, he raised the question of what his next step would be, saying: 鈥渁 couple social media post/tweet doesn鈥檛 work.鈥澛�
鈥淭here鈥檚 NO more sitting back and being afraid of tackling and addressing political issues anymore,鈥� 聽in the post.
That sentiment is not Anthony鈥檚 alone. Legendary NBA player and Charlotte Hornets owner Michael Jordan has been known for of social and political commentary for decades. But in a statement released Monday, Mr. Jordan wrote 鈥溾�� and condemned the 鈥渄eaths of African-Americans at the hands of law enforcement鈥� and 鈥渢he cowardly and hateful targeting and killing of police officers.鈥�
Like Anthony, Jordan didn鈥檛 limit his action to words: He pledged $1 million to the Institute for Community-Police Relations, a new initiative of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, and another million to the civil rights-oriented NAACP Legal Defense Fund.
These individual acts are underscored by group action 鈥� WNBA players from several teams donned black jerseys in solidarity with the victims of recent shootings by and against police officers. A similar act was taken by NBA players in 2014 after Eric Garner was killed during a confrontation by police. And this year鈥檚聽ESPY awards began with a message, offered together by star players LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, and Chris Paul.
At that nationally televised event in early July, Anthony addressed viewers saying: 鈥淲e 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.鈥�
There he said that 鈥渢he urgency to create change is at an all-time high.鈥�
Anthony, who is in the midst of the American basketball team鈥檚 pre-Olympic tour, didn鈥檛 wait until after the games to begin his own contribution to that change. Yesterday鈥檚 platform was just a start, he admits, but it also gave young people of Los Angeles a platform to speak directly to police, describing the fear they feel when they spot officers in their neighbors or telling them about the power that a simple smile can have in a situation.
Of his commitment to fostering conversation, Anthony said:
"We know that nothing is going to happen overnight. But what we wanted to do was create something that we could start right now, and continue on when we leave here today."
Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.
