The NBA and NBPA issued a joint statement on Friday announcing that there would be a return to play this weekend, which was contingent on the league’s owners committing to more concrete measures, particularly related to helping Black people in America. The most noteworthy part of the statement, aside from the fact that games would resume, was that the league is making an NBA-wide push to use arenas as polling places, which has been a central goal of LeBron’s ‘More Than A Vote’ non-profit, aimed at making it easier for Black people to access American democracy.
Phillips Arena in Atlanta and Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles have already committed to opening as polling places, as well as arenas in Detroit and Cleveland, thanks to efforts from ‘More Than A Vote.’ However, there are some logistical and procedural issues that have been presented, in states such as Wisconsin, according to USA TODAY’s Jeff Zillgitt, preventing them from following through on the NBA’s promise to use all of their arenas as polling places.
Following the NBA and NBPA’s announcement, ‘More Than A Vote’ issued their own statement about the actions the NBA committed to on Friday.
John Lewis said democracy is not a state, it is an act. So is justice. So is equality. So is change. We stated when we launched this effort that change isn’t made by watching from the sidelines. It is made by those who march for it, who fight for it, and who vote for it. That goes for every American horrified by the persistence of racist violence and white supremacy in this country. We are not helpless to end this madness. We are not powerless in the face of prejudice. Not if we make our voices heard. For we know that the best antidote to bigotry is the ballot.
We are not politicians or policy leaders and we are not trying to be. But we are Black citizens of this country and we will not be silenced. Democracy is not a spectator sport. As citizens, we have a duty to our country. As Black Americans, we have a duty to our community. A duty to do what generations of Black Americans have done before us: push this country to live up to its founding ideals.
In that spirit, we stand ready to support the NBPA’s and NBA’s effort to convert every NBA arena possible into polling location for this fall’s election. More Than A Vote has been laser-focused on this for months — creating new opportunities in cities like Atlanta, Cleveland, Detroit, and Los Angeles among others — and welcomes the comprehensive effort to provide a safe in-person voting option for our communities during this pandemic that is disproportionately killing Black people.
We know that voting will not end our pain. Voting cannot bring back those killed by the police officers sworn to protect us. Voting cannot erase the scars of slavery and segregation. It cannot change our history, but it can change our future.
If it couldn’t, those in power wouldn’t be trying so hard to take the right to vote away from us. They wouldn’t be trying so hard to erect barriers to the ballot box.
We need to build an America where Blackness doesn’t mean a bullet in our back. An America where Blackness doesn’t mean our voices are silenced, but are celebrated and respected.
Before we were athletes or artists, we were Black. Long after our careers are over, we’ll be Black. Black like Jacob Blake. Black like Breonna Taylor and George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery. Black like every brother and sister taken from us by racism and police brutality. Black and unable to breathe.
This is about more than a vote.