In Solidarity WE Stand
Transcript
Jalil Anibaba | BPC Executive Board:
Like you said, uh, the bucks, I believe were the first professional team in the states that said that they weren’t gonna play as a reaction. And that was obviously a powerful statement. I remember MLS games were starting later and that day, and it was something that, that very quickly permeated throughout our league where, where guys were willing and ready to, to boycott games. I think the sentiment, um, for, for our guys was kind of centralized around the fact that George Floyd had just been murdered. And, you know, there were a lot of calls to action, a lot of heartfelt responses to George Floyd’s murder and then Jacob Blake. So, so quickly after, um, people, people were fed up and it was something that we were able to organize, um, very quickly and effectively it was important for the hole league to stand in solidarity simply because, um, I think that’s, what’s necessary in moments like, like those to, to actually do things that have long lasting impacts.
Jalil Anibaba | BPC Executive Board:
You know, whenever solidarity is, is at a, at a very high level and there’s a lot of participation then, um, it creates waves and, you know, action items can actually be created on the back end of, of, of a protest or a boycott.
And that’s what really makes them important.
It felt powerful. It felt inspiring. Um, despite, you know, the, the unfortunate circumstances. And I think it, it kind of gave, you know, a lot of players, uh, a history mark to refer to, um, because it was UN unprecedented and uncharted territories for a lot of us players to, to decide within a matter of hours. And in some, some cases minutes, um, that players just simply weren’t gonna play. And I think, you know, to scale it outside of MLS, it was, it was our, our, our way of, um, standing in solidarity with, with the NBA, with MLB as well, and which, which ended up being kind of the way in which professional sports leagues were, were moving during 2020.
Jalil Anibaba | BPC Executive Board:
And, you know, we didn’t see it as, as anything other than us doing our part to, to show that our platforms matter to us. And we take them very seriously and we take our, our responsibilities within our communities very, very seriously as well. There have been a lot of, a lot of positives, um, simply because, you know, you see organizations that have been created such as, you know, our organization, black players for change, you see, um, leagues committing more, more, more dollars, more, more attention, more bandwidth within their platforms to, to speak on issues of diversity and inclusion. And speaking on taking stances when whenever there are injustices, you know, committed to, to people from all walks of life. And I think that is what, um, you know, demonstrations boycots in some cases riots are really for, for, for change to, to happen. And it’s something that, um, you know, we as professional athletes have a civic duty at times to activate, and hopefully we don’t experience more injustices like a Jacob Blake or George Floyd anytime soon.
Jalil Anibaba | BPC Executive Board:
But if there are, I think, um, professional athletes have shown that, that we’re really willing and ready to do what we need to do. Yeah.
Jalil Anibaba | BPC Executive Board:
I think hit the nail on the head in terms of MLS being a league that is so diverse in so many different ways, and especially from the aspect of, of race and ethnicity, you know, to see the entire league be willing and ready to boycott. As far as players are concerned for me as a black individual in our league, it, it was really powerful to see, you know, your, your white counterparts, your Latino counterparts, your counterparts, that don’t look like you standing, standing in solidarity with you really was a moment where, you know, all players were saying that, wait, this is a human issue. Um, and when anyone is hurting, that’s typically what they want people to, to just actualize, you know, their pain and to, you know, have people say, Hey, you know, we understand this as a human issue and that is simply it. Um, isolation is the enemy of any healing. So it’s just great to, to see that our league can come together when need be.
Clint Irwin | MLSPA Executive Board:
I remember it pretty well. We were, we were playing at FC Dallas, and I think the news from Milwaukee had just come basically right after we had gotten done with our team talk in the afternoon. So that was probably 3 30, 4 o’clock, um, after our meal and we were, we were starting to get on the bus and get ready to go to the game. And I normally sit at the front of the bus and there was other guys at the, at the back of the bus. And I could tell there was a lot of conversations going on about, you know, oh, Milwaukee’s not Milwaukee bucks, aren’t playing. And I think at that point, some of the MLB teams had discussed not playing. And we were maybe an hour away from the east coast games kicking off. And, you know, there’s, there’s guys on many teams that talk to each other text with each other.
Clint Irwin | MLSPA Executive Board:
I know in the, the PA we had, uh, a group text from bargaining, um, which we had all gone through over the past couple months. And there are a few guys asking, you know, are people gonna play like, what’s the sentiment? And I know just looking and talking to my teammates, like guys were, were very upset and distraught about what was going on in the country at that time. And I could just tell that they weren’t in the right head space to play a game at that point. And I, I spoke to, I remember speaking to Kellyn Acosta and Kei Kamara at the time. And I said, look guys, like if we’re not in a spot to play or, or people don’t feel like we should play, like we don’t have to, like, we can, we can organize something and, and make it clear that this is what we stand for.
Clint Irwin | MLSPA Executive Board:
You know, we’re gonna make a statement by not playing tonight. And, you know, we talked a little bit amongst the team and we made sure that everyone was on board with that. And everyone on our team was. Um, and so when we got to the stadium in Dallas, uh, the locker rooms are pretty close to each other. So I believe it was Kellyn, uh, Reggie cannon who played at the time with Dallas, uh, Jimmy Mauer, who was the PA rep at that time, kind of got together outside locker rooms and just sort of talked through where everything was at and where their locker room was at and where ours was, where, where things were happening around the league. And, um, we came to a decision that neither team thought it appropriate to play or to put on a sporting event in that, uh, moment in the country.
Clint Irwin | MLSPA Executive Board:
And we ended up not playing. And I think we, we went on the field around kickoff time, um, and took a picture as, as a group with all our shirts on with black lives matter shirts. And it’s something that in my career I’m really proud of. It’s something that I think we did as a collective. And, um, I was proud to be a part of it. And I think it was the right thing to do, and I still believe it was the right thing to do. And I know it’s something that, uh, was very powerful for all of our teammates and, and I hope for, uh, the people who support our teams and the audiences that watch,
Clint Irwin | MLSPA Executive Board:
I think, like you said, one of the most exciting parts of being, uh, in this sport is you go into locker room and there’s different languages being spoken.
Clint Irwin | MLSPA Executive Board:
There’s people from different races, different backgrounds, different countries. But I think at that moment, everyone understood the grave injustice that was happening at that time and could understand, you know, this is something that’s bigger than this game tonight. You know, this is something that’s bigger than us going out in the field. And, you know, a lot of guys, even from other countries who maybe don’t understand the, the history of racism in our country, I felt like they understood sort of the emotional distress that their teammates were under. And I think that for them to be able to see that and to respond in solidarity with, with everyone in the locker room was really powerful. Yeah. I, I think what we’ve seen is that, you know, players have a voice and until you use that voice, you don’t know what that impact is. And I think what we’re seeing now, and, and, and since then is that players can have a really powerful effect on societal issues, things that they believe in, especially when it’s done as a collective. And that was something that came together in the course of hours. Like it just, it wasn’t something that guys had been planning or was organized by anyone in particular. And I think that’s somewhat the beauty of it was it, it came together so quickly and it made such a powerful statement that there was, on that day, there was no sports were gonna be played. And, um, it brought attention to the issues that, uh, we’re facing in this country. And I was proud of all of our players who, uh, came together and, uh, made that
Jacori Hayes | BPC Executive Board:
Statement. So it was, I think it was important for us to show that we can be a part of the social justice movement that we can affect change just as much as, you know, the Milwaukee bucks players and did earlier in that day or the, the day before, and kind of show how powerful of, of a group that we can be. And I was really proud of the, the guys that took us, took a stand and, you know, it was incredibly brave of them because there was, you know, for myself, I was on the couch that day. And you know, of course I wanted them to behave one way, but you know, it, it takes a lot of courageousness and bravery to kind of stand out on the ledge and, you know, kind of be exposed in that way. It was, it was very special to see, you know, players from different nationalities all across the world, that once you explain to them what happened and kind of the history of everything and, uh, history of police in this country, how black people have been treated in this country and many minority races have been treated in this country, you kind of, you see a light bulb go off like, oh, this is, this is an important issue that, you know, I’m on your side for this, I’m on whatever you think we should do.
Jacori Hayes | BPC Executive Board:
Like I’ll follow you sort of mentality. And so I was very appreciative of the people in our, in our locker room that, although this doesn’t hit home for them, in terms of, in their country, uh, directly in this instance, you could see them understanding why it was an important issue for someone like me and other players that, you know, grew up in this country. And you can see them understand that this is more than just, um, an individual issue. It’s like a human issue that we, we need to rectify in this country, across the world. I won’t just individualize it to hear, but you could, I, I really appreciate their understanding and their willingness to be supportive of us.
Jacori Hayes | BPC Executive Board:
I’ve seen, you know, blacks players for change, like, you know, working with the league to improve the lives of people around, around the country, whether it’s opening up the mini pitches, um, we’re doing great work in terms of recognizing other organizations that are helping out communities, I think will highlight it as part of all star weekend, you know, organizations that are doing tremendous work in the Minneapolis St. Paul community. So I think in terms of that togetherness, we are working very well and unified and highlighting groups that are doing tremendous work in the community. It doesn’t always have to be a strike or as obvious or as striking as, as that. But I think we are unified in continuing to push the, the same message of improving, uh, on social issues in this country.