Late Friday night, it was learned that we lost two Civil Rights Era icons: John Lewis and C.T. Vivian.
Upon learning the news, Chris Paul joined LeBron James in sending out tweets of condolence of the fallen heroes.
On Saturday morning, after the Thunder completed practice, Paul addressed reporters via video conference. Although he was asked quite a few questions about the team and their progression, he spent quite a bit of time talking about the losses of two of modern history’s biggest civil rights champions.
Mr. Lewis was diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer in December and ultimately succumbed to complications from the disease while Mr. Vivian, according to CNN, died of natural causes. Mr. Lewis was 80 years old. Mr Vivian was 95.
From Faith Karimi of CNN.com:
Both men were the epitome of “good trouble” — Lewis’ favorite saying and approach to confronting injustices without violence. They worked alongside the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in the forefront of the historic struggle for racial justices in the 1960s.
At the height of the push for justice, their beatings at the protests galvanized support that led to key changes. After years of arrests, confrontations and unyielding demands for justice, they received the highest civilian honor from the nation’s first Black President.
Obviously, none of this was lost on Paul, especially as some of the most powerful voices in the NBA fraternity have become increasingly outspoken about civil rights and social justice.
Paul addressed the losses of the two giants in a quote transcribed and provided on The Thunder’s Twitter feed.
“It’s about life, and who you are as a human being. Today is a sad day in that we lost two of the most powerful activists we’ve ever had – C.T. Vivian and John Lewis. The impact they had on America is unbelievable…
“And for me as a black man I think it’s more important for me to do my job better as a parent. A lot of times people look at us athletes as heroes, what we can do as far as dunking a basketball or throwing a touchdown, but the things that they did as human beings… John Lewis was one of the original 13 Freedom Riders, was the youngest speaker at the March on Washington, did the walk from Selma to Montgomery. And all of these things, I don’t think we do enough learning and teaching about…”
Paul’s sentiments represent the thoughts of many within the NBA fraternity, including James, Donovan Mitchell, Tobias Harris, two-time NBA Champion Pau Gasol and one of the greater players of all-time in Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
"John Lewis was one of the original 13 Freedom Riders, was the youngest speaker at the March on Washington, did the walk from Selma to Montgomery. And all of these things, I don't think we do enough learning and teaching about…" (cont)
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) July 18, 2020
Without question, the impact of these losses will be felt for quite some time.