Carmelo Anthony gives straight talk, no chaser when it comes to speaking out about America’s broken system in the newest issue of ESPN magazine. Go inside to find out all he said about systemic racism and police brutality, advice he gave Colin Kaepernick and much more….
New York Knicks baller Carmelo Anthony is “woke” and he’s using his platform and influence to school the masses on systemic racism, police brutality and many other issues that the black community faces on a daily.
For the newest issue of ESPN, the NBA baller whipped out his black beret (seemingly a tribute to the Black Panther party) for the cover shot. Inside, her serves up a much-needed conversation about several issues that plague our country, especially issues in the black community. He’s not one to just talk about it. He puts in the work as well.
The 32-year-old baller joined NBA icons LeBron James, Chris Paul and Dwyane Wade for a powerful speech about social injustice and to charge fellow athletes to begin speaking up on injustices against people of color at the 2016 ESPY Awards. He has starred in ads against gun violence and built basketball courts in low-income neighborhoods (in cites like Baltimore, Brooklyn and Puerto Rico). So you see, he’s not just all talk.
So what caused Carmelo to speak up, despite possibly losing endorsement deals from major companies? It was the death of 25-year-old Baltimore man Freddie Gray. Baltimore, the same city he grew up in.
“But when it's powerful, timing is everything, and for me the Freddie Gray thing was the one that tipped me off. It was like something just exploded. It was like [snaps] now was the time. Enough is enough.”
He added “And everybody's calling me like, ‘We should do this’ or ‘We should do that,’ and I was like, ‘I'm going home.’ If you want to come with me, you come with me, but I'm going home. I'm not calling reporters and getting on the news; I'm actually going there. I wanted to feel that. I wanted to feel that pain. I wanted to feel that tension.”
And that’s exactly what he did.
The NBA superstar goes on to talk about this broken system in America. Not just with police, but education and so on.
“The system is broken,” he said. “It trickles down. It's the education. You've got to be educated to know how to deal with police. The police have to be educated on how to deal with people. The system has to put the right police in the right situations. Like, you can't put white police in the 'hood. You just can't do that. They don't know how to react. They don't know how to respond to those different situations.”
Carmelo revealed a few details about the conversation he had with NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick the night after he took a knee during the national anthem in a silent protest against police brutality and racial inequality.
“I spoke to him that night,” he said. “He reached out to me that night. And I'm watching and I'm like, ‘OK.’ Like, ‘What's next?’ In a very respectful way, he was like, ‘I took this step and, you know, just wanted to get your thoughts on what's happening.’ And I said, ‘Well, you're courageous.’ I said, ‘You just showed a lot of courage in what you just did, but now is the hard part because you have to keep it going. So if that was just a one-time thing, then you're f*cked. But now you keep it going and be articulate and elaborate on why you're doing it, and be educated and knowledgeable of why you're doing it so when people ask, you can stand up for what you believe in and really let them hear why.’"
How does being called unpatriotic affect him?
“I mean, you hear it. I just think that's bullshit for somebody to call me unpatriotic. That's totally bullshit. I've committed to this country on many different levels. Committing to USA Basketball since I was 19 years old, playing in four Olympics, going to the different parts of the world. Where they were warring, you know? Traveling to Turkey where they were bombing the building three doors down from us. Going to the games where they've got "Down with the USA" signs out there.”
So how about the black players in the league form their own league and leave the NBA?
"I think the resources are there. I think we're powerful enough. I can only speak for basketball players. We're powerful enough to, if we wanted to, create our own league. But everybody would have to be willing to do that. You have to be willing to say, ‘This is what I'm going to do. I'm supporting this right here.’ Because at the end of the day, the athletes are the league. Without the athletes, there's no league. Without us, there's no them. And they don't think like that. They say, "We're your main source of income, so you're going to need me before I need you." I think you just have to be willing to do that. You have to be willing to make that move, and, you know, strength comes in numbers. If you don't have those numbers, it's not going to work. "The people in the position of power understand now more than ever that some of the athletes are just as powerful as them. And that's the scary part. To know that, 'Somebody I'm paying, you know, is just as powerful as me. We don't want that.'"
It would be so amazing and inspiring to see them do that. Use their resources and make their OWN league!
You can check out his full interview here.
BONUS: Melo's fellow NBAer Kevin Durant is covering the new issue of Rolling Stone, and giving real talk about the hood and more.
EXTRAS:
1. VOGUE endorses Hillary Clinton for president. STORY
Photos: ESPN
