NFL
By: Zachary Draves
Maya Moore has taken the LeBron James ethos of being “More Than an Athlete” to task.
Ever since she shocked the WNBA last February by taking a hiatus from the game to focus on her family, faith, and advocacy for criminal justice reform, she has been truly committed to the struggle.
She doesn’t follow the public prototype of being at a ribbon-cutting ceremony to create the impression that she is down for the cause and then back to business as usual.
She is sincerely hands on.
Currently, Maya has been actively involved in the campaign to free Jonathan Irons, a man who is currently serving a 50 year sentenced for a non-fatal shooting during a robbery when he was 16 back in 1997 in Missouri.
She has spoken out on the case by noting that there was no physical evidence tying Jonathan to the case and launched the hashtag #WinWithJustice in his honor.
She has lent her voice and presence to a recent event hosted by the Congressional Black Caucus on criminal justice reform in Washington D.C.
Irons is expected to be back in court on Oct. 9th in the hopes of being granted a second trial and Maya will be present at that hearing.
For anyone who has followed her career over the last few years, there has been an evolution from athlete to activist.
Maya was among the players who famously wore black t-shirts honoring the memories of Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, and the five Dallas officers who were killed in July 2016, unleashing the new era of athlete activism.
(Courtesy: CNN.com)
She gave interviews and wrote for the Player’s Tribune articulating her commitment to addressing the plague of mass incarceration that has systematically destroyed black and brown communities.
https://www.theplayerstribune.com/en-us/articles/maya-moore-wnba-announcement
She has partnered with pro-reform groups such as The Marshall Project.
Now she is on the ground and taking a role in freeing a man who was unjustly convicted.
Furthermore, she is not only part of a long tradition of athletes taking an active stand on a social and political cause, but she is also in a unique class of athlete advocates focused specifically on the criminal justice system.
She should be put in the same category as a Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, the famed boxer who was convicted in 1967 for a double murder he did not commit and whose case became a cause celeb.
Carter then became an advocate for people who were wrongly convicted.
Colin Kaepernick, Eric Reid, Kenny Stills, and other NFL players have in the last few years taken part in Kaep’s Know Your Rights camp with young people cities across America addressing ways to combat racial profiling and police brutality. Proving that they are doing more than kneeling.
WNBA teams such as the New York Liberty has put together Unity Game Nights, where before the game they engage in a public discussion with the community and law enforcement on bridging the gap between the two.
Maya’s work is also a prime example of the fact that many of the prominent athlete activists of our time are black women, who often don’t get enough credit for social change, even though black women have not only done the work but have been the leaders of movements throughout time.
(Courtesy: USA Today.com)
Serena Williams, Caster Semenya, Ibtihaj Muhammad, Simone Manuel, Alyson Felix, Aja Wilson, Layshia Clarendon, Swim Cash, and Natasha Cloud are just some of the names of black female athletes who are on the front lines and deserve the credit and recognition.
Maya Moore is the athletic equivalent of Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Ella Baker, Fannie Lou Hammer, and Angela Davis. She is dedicated to freeing those who are unjustly locked up and victimized by the system.
Whatever happens, going forward with the case or her career in basketball, she should be praised for her selflessness.
She is a role model in every sense of the word.
