LeBron James and Other Stars Form a Voting Rights Group
So glad to see this.
LeBron James and Other Stars Form a Voting Rights Group
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/10/us/politics/lebron-james-voting-rights.html?referringSource=articleShare
“This is the time for us to finally make a difference,” the N.B.A. superstar said of the new group, which will aim to protect African-Americans’ voting rights.
By Jonathan Martin June 10, 2020
WASHINGTON — The N.B.A. superstar LeBron James and a group of other prominent black athletes and entertainers are starting a new group aimed at protecting African-Americans’ voting rights, seizing on the widespread fury against racial injustice that has fueled worldwide protests to amplify their voices in this fall’s presidential election.
“Because of everything that’s going on, people are finally starting to listen to us — we feel like we’re finally getting a foot in the door,” Mr. James said in a phone interview on Wednesday. “How long is up to us. We don’t know. But we feel like we’re getting some ears and some attention, and this is the time for us to finally make a difference.”
The organization, called More Than a Vote, will partly be aimed at inspiring African-Americans to register and to cast a ballot in November. But as the name of the group suggests, Mr. James and other current and former basketball stars — including Trae Young, Skylar Diggins-Smith and Jalen Rose — will go well beyond traditional celebrity get-out-the-vote efforts.
Mr. James, 35, said he would use his high-profile platform on social media to combat voter suppression and would be vocal about drawing attention to any attempts to restrict the franchise of racial minorities.
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He made no mention of President Trump, whom he has sharply criticized in the past, but he repurposed Mr. Trump’s slogan to hail America’s beauty, explaining, “We want to be beautiful once again.”
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Until now, though, his political involvement has mostly been limited to speaking out on social media and appearing at a single rally late in Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign.
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