Wake Forest Demon Deacons: Chris Paul, NBA star and social activist
The Los Angeles Clippers have one of the best point guards in the NBA today, Chris Paul. Steph Curry has the nickname, the baby-faced assassin, but this could easily be Paul’s nickname as well.
Last week at the ESPY Awards, Chris Paul joined LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Carmelo Anthony and made a statement against violence, in particular police brutality against Blacks.
All four players spoke to the star-studded crowd at the beginning of the show. In fact, it was the collective idea of these NBA stars to do this, not ESPN’s.
Anthony ignited this fire when he made a plea to professional athletes to stand up for change and social injustice with a post from Instagram. Below is a tweet from ESPN’s Rachel Nichols that includes Anthony’s message in entirety.
.@CarmeloAnthony IG: most powerful thing I've seen from an athlete on the senseless killings of the past few days. pic.twitter.com/KAiTQBOG1M
— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) July 8, 2016
After Anthony spoke to the ESPYs crowd, Paul stated:
"“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.”"
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In addition, Paul mentioned how one of his uncles is a police officer. Their stance was not against the police. The four players spoke to the crowd because they stand against violence against Blacks’ at the hands of policemen. Keep in mind that Anthony, Paul, Wade and James are speaking out against the instances when Blacks were unarmed and/or did not do anything to deserves being killed at the hands of policemen. While Paul spoke, he praised policemen for what they do across the nation. As Paul eloquently stated, this is a reality for many Blacks.
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Paul does a great deal, when it comes to community-based endeavors. Established in 2005, Paul’s CP3 Foundation strives to positively impact individuals and families by leveling the playing field in Education, Sports and Life. The foundation provides resources that enrich and strengthen healthy development of strong communities.
In the past, Paul’s CP3 Foundation has opened a computer lab at an elementary school, had holiday giveaway, held a celebrity server dinner, held an annual PBA celebrity bowling match, conducted a prom dress giveaway, a shoe giveaway and several other things. Paul’s foundation conducts many of these endeavors annually.
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Paul has been standing up for change, since he became a professional basketball player in 2005. Hopefully, many other stars in sports and entertainment will take a cue from Paul.
Paul has done a great deal in his communities in North Carolina and California. Now, Paul has taken a much bigger step in his leadership role by encouraging other athletes to stand against violence towards Blacks.
Next: N.C. State Wolfpack: Dennis Smith, Jr. Freshman Basketball Star
Kudos to Paul, Anthony, James and Wade for their emotional speech during the ESPYs. The time is now for the current generation to emulate what the past generation accomplished in regards to social change.