ESPYs’ Opening Speech a Call For Social Activism By Athletes
By Ken Reed
LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul and Dwayne Wade opened this week’s ESPYs with a powerful speech calling for their fellow athletes to step up and do whatever possible to help end gun violence in their communities.
It was a promising development, but will James, Anthony, Paul, Wade and the athletes in the audience walk the talk or revert back to focusing on building their brands?
The words from the speech provide hope that today’s sports superstars might start following the lead of the great athletes that came before them when it comes to social activism.
“Generations ago, legends like Jesse Owens, Jackie Robinson, Muhammad Ali, John Carlos and Tommie Smith, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jim Brown, Billie Jean King, Arthur Ashe and countless others, they set a model for what athletes should stand for. So we choose to follow in their footsteps.”
Let’s hope that’s indeed the case because elite athletes in this country have a tremendous platform from which to do good.
The James/Anthony/Paul/Wade speech was refreshing, especially because it was their idea. The foursome approached the show’s producers about how they wanted to kick off the ESPY awards program.
James, in particular, is increasingly becoming known for his social consciousness. This development is somewhat surprising given James’ long refusal to comment — or take action of any kind — on his long-time sponsor Nike’s use of sweatshop factories in third-world countries. These factories are symbols of labor rights violations, paltry wages, terrible working conditions, forced overtime and abusive treatment of hundreds of thousands of workers. The factories make a mockery of human rights standards.
However, James was the first NBA star to call for the ouster of the Clippers’ racist owner, Donald Sterling. He also made strong statements following the Trayvon Martin and Eric Garner killings.
James ended the quartet’s ESPYs speech Wednesday night with these words to his fellow athletes: “Speak up. Use our influence. And renounce all violence. And most importantly, go back to our communities, invest our time, our resources, help rebuild them, help strengthen them, help change them. We all have to do better. Thank you.”
Let’s hope James, Anthony, Paul, Wade, and the athletes watching heed that call.
— Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans
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"How We Can Save Sports" author Ken Reed appears on Fox & Friends to explain how there's "too much adult in youth sports."
Ken Reed appears on Mornings with Gail from KFKA Radio in Colorado to discuss bad parenting in youth athletics.
“Should College Athletes Be Paid?” Ken Reed on The Morning Show from Wisconsin Public Radio
Ken Reed appears on KGNU Community Radio in Colorado (at 02:30) to discuss equality in sports and Title IX.
Ken Reed appears on the Ralph Nader Radio Hour (at 38:35) to discuss his book The Sports Reformers: Working to Make the World of Sports a Better Place, and to talk about some current sports issues.
- Reed Appears on Ralph Nader Radio Hour League of Fans’ sports policy director, Ken Reed, Ralph Nader and the New York Times’ Tyler Kepner discussed a variety of sports issues on Nader’s radio show as well as Reed’s updated book, How We Can Save Sports: A Game Plan. Reed's book was released in paperback in February, and has a new introduction and several updated sections.
League of Fans is a sports reform project founded by Ralph Nader to fight for the higher principles of justice, fair play, equal opportunity and civil rights in sports; and to encourage safety and civic responsibility in sports industry and culture.
Vanderbilt Sport & Society - On The Ball with Andrew Maraniss with guest Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director for League of Fans and author of How We Can Save Sports: A Game Plan
Sports & Torts – Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans – at the American Museum of Tort Law
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