There is nothing that says you can't be active and love your community and fight for your community and still do your job.
Malcolm JenkinsRead
Our biggest thing is, any player who's protesting will tell you that the only reason we use the anthem is because it's a platform like no other. We use it to draw attention to other issues. We've heard from many people, 'Use a different venue. Use a different platform.' Quite frankly, this is the most effective one.
Interpretation
This quote highlights the use of a public platform to address important social issues.
Malcolm Jenkins emphasizes that athletes protesting during the national anthem do so to raise visibility for significant societal problems. He argues that the anthem provides a unique and powerful platform for drawing attention to these issues, making it more effective than other means of protest.
In practice
This quote could be used in a speech about the role of athletes in social justice movements.
There is nothing that says you can't be active and love your community and fight for your community and still do your job.
I grew up playing in the streets. We played two-hand touch from street pole to street pole. That's how I learned the game.
When I look at our communities, our country, our justice system, those are things I want to change and I'm committed to changing, and that's going to take sacrifice. Laying the foundation is the hardest part and requires a lot of sacrifice and time.
The people who have been unjustly disenfranchised by our criminal justice system and the people who daily fight for them always have, and always will be, the inspiration and focus of my efforts.
Communities of color have also had to watch video after video of unarmed black men and women being handled without regard for their lives or well-being. As a black man, I see these images, and I see myself; I wonder whether this will happen to me or one of my loved ones.
I didn't realize that the platform could be this big until Colin Kaepernick first took a knee. When he did that, that was kind of an 'aha' moment for me.
When you or your loved ones escape repression, you often find yourself committed to ensuring that freedom prevails.
When we're afraid, we lose all sense of analysis and reflection. Our fear paralyzes us. Besides, fear has always been the driving force behind all dictators' repression.
Our chiefs are killed. . . . The little children are freezing to death. . . . My people have no blankets, no food. . . . My heart is sick and sad. . . . I will fight no more forever.
Having breast cancer is massive amounts of no fun. First they mutilate you; then they poison you; then they burn you. I have been on blind dates better than that.
All my life I believed I became an athlete through my own determination, but it's impossible to think that being descended from slaves hasn't left an imprint through the generations. Difficult as it was to hear, slavery has benefited descendants like me - I believe there is a superior athletic gene in us.
There is always more spirit in attack than in defence.
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