Monthly Archives: July 2020

Your necessary airing of the views of young black Britons (Young, British and Black, 29 July) raises vital questions. What is important is what can be done to make their lives better. I have two adopted African-Caribbean children and have regularly discussed their experiences with them and I have found that authorities are supportive if problems are drawn to their attention.

My son was bullied by older children on his way home from primary school. When we took this up with the head, action was so effective that it stopped instantly. At secondary school a teacher used a racist insult and, instead of discussing it with us, my son wrote to the county education authorities, who contacted the school and the teacher was disciplined (he was later sacked for hitting a pupil).

Later, my sons only problems have been in London, where he was stopped too many times by the police. He has experienced no obvious racism at work, where he has been successful (but its not possible to tell if there has been any underlying prejudice).

It is clear that there are some overtly racist people in the police and elsewhere in authority, but the more universal problem is unconscious bias. Workplace training is essential and, importantly, should include tests to demonstrate to individuals how their underlying attitudes affect their responses to black people.Name and address supplied

The most disturbing aspect of the interviews with young black people is the reported amount of racism in schools. It is understandable, if wrong, that so many white children first learn racial prejudice from their parents. But it is unacceptable that so many teachers are allowing this to persist in their schools. Education is precisely the forum in which the elimination of racism should start. This issue should be fully covered in teacher training. Headteachers should make anti-racism part of their schools ethics. Teachers who do not comply should be removed.Robin WendtChester

The young voices in your special report are dignified, defiant and moving. The bullying experienced from a very young age shames white culture at every level. Jimmy McGoverns TV film Anthony is a tragic exposure of what racism can lead to. We all need to see it.John AirsLiverpool

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Listen to the young voices of the Black Lives Matter movement - The Guardian

Women Have Options co-chair Samantha Sizemore on Saturday's 150 Days of Injustice rally, which will serve as a collective catching of the breath and a reminder of the work to come

Prolonged protest movements can be physically and emotionally taxing, which explains part of why local Black Lives Matter actions, which erupted in late May following the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police, have waned some in recent weeks.

It really just seems a lot of folks dont understand the work it takes to continue protesting, said Women Have Options co-chair Samantha Sizemore. People who are newer to this dont understand the effects of pure burnout that come from doing this day after day. Honestly, this movement has existed for a long time, and I know George Floyd was a catalyst to get a lot of people out there initially, but those of us who are part of coalitions, or are abolitionists, do understand the work it takes, because weve been out here time and time again, even before June.

With that idea in mind, Women Have Options (WHO) is joining with the Ohio Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice to stage a weekend rally dubbed 150 Days of Injustice: Revitalize Black Lives. The event, which kicks off at Goodale Park on Saturday, Aug. 1, serves myriad purposes, opening at 11 a.m. as a collective catching of the breath featuring meditations and discussions on topics such as protest safety and creating sustainable movements, and then closing with renewed calls to action and a subsequent march to the Ohio Statehouse. At its core, though, the daylong affair, which takes its name from the roughly 150 days that have passed since Breonna Taylor was shot and killed in her home by Louisville police, will function as a reminder of the important work still to come.

We want to get people reenergized and refocused, and remind them of why were still out here, and that a movement is something that has to be worked at to be sustained, Sizemore said. Im hoping that talking with folks and allowing them to ask questions, getting them more prepared than they were, will help us continue this very strongly. I think we scatter really quickly, especially when police are involved, and Im hoping this can remind us of our collective power, and allow us to have some better protests that can really stick.

Part of the event description on Facebook references a desire to move from individual protests to collective action, which Sizemore traced to the splintering effect that can take place in any large, diverse movement. One group of protesters might call for defunding the police, for example, while another might embrace working more closely with the City Council to improve police oversight. To that end, Sizemore said that its important to give each voice within the movement agency Its important that any individual person be able to speak up and speak out, she said while also continuing to center efforts around the organizations that have been engaged in this kind of work for years.

I think we needed to reorganize and have these protests led again by those who are experienced, and to remind people not to reinvent the wheel when it comes to a movement like this. When it comes to Black Lives Matter, when it comes to police brutality, the work is already being done, and its always been led by organizations or coalitions with very experienced abolitionists. And theres nothing wrong with that, Sizemore said. You really just have to research how you can get involved, how you can work with folks like BQIC (Black, Queer & Intersectional Collective) or ROOTT (Restoring Our Own Through Transformation), or even just us at WHO. Groups who have experienced Black leaders, who are educated [in the issues] and who have the experience behind them.

But even for veteran organizers like Sizemore, the intensity of this current round of protests has been eye opening. She described the first weekend of Downtown protests as feeling like a straight up warzone, pointing to the aggressive actions of police, which she traced to demonstrators calling officers' authority into question. Sizemore said that the collective experience altered something inside of her with which she was still coming to terms.

It has changed a lot in me and shifted my views, even in terms of how I view the Black Lives Matter movement. It makes you look at the world differently, and not always in a negative way, but even as a Black person I didnt realize how heavy this could get, Sizemore said. In a strange way, it probably hardened me, and made me a bit braver, I guess. There are still a lot of feelings about it I have to unpack.

But these lingering internal complexities haven't eroded Sizemores desire to fight for racial justice, and she remains heartened by some of the progress that has been made, pointing to a Columbus City Council that at least appears willing to seriously address protesters concerns.

I had never focused much on the City Council because generally our City Council has just been there to follow the orders of the mayor, where he brings forth a policy and they all vote yes on it. But its interesting because now it seems like theyre not all saying yes, and theyre at least considering the policies that are coming through to them in regards to CPD, said Sizemore, who views even this modest progress as a crack on which to continue pressing in the weeks and months ahead. We need to be out here pushing forth, even though its exhausting, reminding folks of the lives that have been lost, that havent received justice. We have to get things moving again, to recapture the energy we had [in June]. We need to keep the momentum up.

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Organizers gather strength for the next push in the Black Lives Matter movement - Columbus Alive

The NBA is making a big impression with the official restart of the 2020 season.

On Thursday, July 30, the Utah Jazz and New Orleans Pelicans came together before their game to take a knee during the national anthem in honor of the Black Lives Matter movement. The players fromboth teams wore a shirt with "Black Lives Matter" emblazoned across the front,as they wrapped arms around each other's shoulders.

Additionally, the players replaced their last names on their jerseys with a chosen phrase or word they associate with the social justice movement. One athlete chose, "Say their names."

In a statement, the New Orleans Pelicans voiced their support for the "ideals of freedom of speech and the right to peacefully protest."

"Collectively with the Utah Jazz, our organization joins the NBA in supporting our playersand coaches," the statement continued. "To promote meaningful change relative to social justice and racial equality, the New Orleans have partnered with our players, staff and coaches to create a Social Justice Leadership Alliance committed to furthering the discussion, listening and learning and taking action to make positive change in our community and country."

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NBA Season Officially Restarts With a Nod to the Black Lives Matter Movement - E! NEWS

DARLINGTON, S.C. Former Major League Baseball All-Star second baseman Orlando Hudson says he will not wear a Black Lives Matter shirt.

Hudson, a native of Darlington, spoke alongside South Carolina Highway Patrol Col. Chris Williamson, also a Darlington native, at a conversation on policing event held Thursday evening at the Dominion Church.

"I've been asked to wear that shirt," Hudson said. "The reason I won't wear that shirt is not because black lives don't matter but because we have lost our identity as a black culture. We leave our women [and children] fatherless. We rape our women. We sell drugs to our own people. And it hurts."

"It seems black lives only matter when you have a Caucasian cop killing a young black man, then everybody wants to march for injustice," Hudson continued. "Where's the [march for] injustice when our mothers are raising two or three kids and the father is running around doing what he have to do?"

Hudson asked where was the march for injustice when gang-bangers were killing each other over a street corner or a block.

"They call that street cred," Hudson said. "When the white man kill us, they call that injustice."

No one in the room, Hudson said, created the injustices that African American people face today. Those have been going on for 400 years.

Hudson said most people have virtually unlimited opportunities for education.

"Now, we're in a time now where an African American brother can get an education but we'd rather see how many likes we can get on Snapchat," Hudson said. "We'd rather see how much love we can get on Instagram."

Instead of reading books, it's TikTok videos, Hudson added.

Hudson also expressed a desire for African Americans to desire to become doctors and lawyers and not focus all their efforts on becoming professional sports athletes.

Hudson imagined a conversation between Christ and God in which Christ tells God not to get angry about the lack of unity in the world because Christ was going to send a pandemic to force people to become unified.

Hudson also expressed a desire to see more people put God first in their lives. He implied that people needed to spend less time waiting in line at Walmart and more time in church.

Hudson also spoke about NBA forward LeBron James. He said he absolutely adored James both on and, particularly, off the court. Hudson said he admired James for making it to the NBA despite being the child of a teenage single parent.

James was born on Dec. 30, 1984, to 16-year old Gloria James.

"He understood being a young black man, playing this game that he loved playing, 'I can't make too much noise right now because they got an opportunity or a chance to run me out of here. I've got no leverage,'" Hudson said, partially speaking as James. Now that James has achieved success and the financial security that comes with it, Hudson said, "they can't shut him up."

Others speaking during the conversation included Williamson he showed a video of what to expect during a traffic stop and also talked about unity and togetherness South Carolina state Rep. Robert Q. Williams, Darlington County Schools Superintendent Tim Newman, Darlington Police Chief Kelvin Washington, and Darlington Mayor Curtis Boyd.

Originally posted here:

Orlando Hudson says he won't wear Black Lives Matter shirt - SCNow

A group of University of Miami students take a deep dive through film, photography, and journalism into the history of police brutality and social justice issues Black people are facing in the United States.

As many students around the nation and globe engage in protesting violence by police against Black communities, a group of students at the University of Miami is documenting as much of it as possible.

Jayda Graham and KiAnna Dorsey, executive producers of The Culture, UMTVs award-winning channel which highlights the Black experience at and beyond the University of Miami, have banded together during the summer to lead the charge on a special edition project titled Black Voices Matter. UMTV produces nine different shows, including a weekly live sports show and newscast, a late-night comedy program, and two Spanish-language programs.

We felt like it was really important for us to talk about the issues that Black people are facing in America, said Jayda Graham, a senior majoring in broadcast journalism. I think this is a very unique time in history. Not only are we dealing with these social issues, but were also dealing with a pandemic thats disproportionately affecting black people.

Graham said it feels like an explosion of issues all at once and the U.S. is being forced to recognize what Black people have always been dealing with.

The 30-minute special project will highlight the history of the Black Lives Matter organization and its mission after the killing of teen Trayvon Martin. Members of The Culture will also share their personal perspectives of protests and rallies from their respective cities and towns.

Even though were in the midst of a hard time and everybody is social distancing, I feel like thats whats making this project extra special, said Dorsey, a sophomore majoring in motion pictures with a minor in Spanish. I also think its really special to know people from all over the University are on board.

UMTV station manager Gianna Sanchez, a senior majoring in broadcast journalism, frequently met virtually with Dorsey and Graham to assist with the planning and visual aspects of the project. Sanchez coordinated with every show under the UMTV umbrella so that they would be a part of the project.

It was important for UMTV to show its support of Black voices rather than just make one simple post about it, Sanchez said. All nine shows came together to make one united project, but it was important for The Culture to lead and to have this experience.

The unique project captures voices from across the University, including President Julio Frenk, Black student leaders, and faculty and staff members.

Its a combination of national and UM news, while also putting the focus on Black stories, Sanchez said. While showcasing those difference aspects, we end the show on a positive note by showcasing the things that have changed because of the proteststips on how you can be proactive, self-care advice, and helpful ways you can be an ally.

As Graham and Dorsey return to campus this fall semester, they plan to keep consistently creating similar content to keep their followers and supporters aware of Black community news.

We are pushing the envelope and telling the stories that need to be told, Graham said.

Black Voices Matter can be viewed online Friday, July 31, on the UMTV website.

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UMTV's The Culture sheds light on the Black Lives Matter movement - University of Miami

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) In response to a teenager's letter, Buffalo Common Council President Darius Pridgen sponsored a resolution to name a street in Buffalo "Black Lives Matter."

Mekhi Edwards, a 17-year-old student at Frederick Law Olmsted School, wrote the letter suggesting that young people in the city come together and paint "Black Lives Matter" on a street. The letter reads as follows:

Mekhi Edwards

On June 23, the resolution went before the council and each member voted yes to move forward with the resolution.

In addition to renaming a street or section of street, the resolution would also name Mekhi Edwards Honorary Youth Chairperson of the project.

The common council has created a survey which can be found here, to collect the opinions of City of Buffalo residents to help decide the location of Black Lives Matter Street.

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Survey posted to help determine location of 'Black Lives Matter Street' in Buffalo - WKBW-TV

The police have identified the protester killed Saturday night during a Black Lives Matter protest in Austin, Texas, as Garrett Foster, 28.

Chief Brian Manley of the Austin Police Department confirmed Foster's identity Sunday evening, the Associated Press reported.

Witnesses said Foster, who was armed, was shot by the driver of a car that had sped toward the gathering of protesters.

According to the police, the driver of the vehicle and other witnesses said Foster was shot only after he pointed his rifle at its driver.

Another witness disputed that, however.

"He was not aiming the gun or doing anything aggressive with the gun," Michael Capochiano, a 53-year-old accountant, told The New York Times. "I'm not sure if there was much of an exchange of words. It wasn't like there was any sort of verbal altercations. He wasn't charging at the car."

The driver who killed Foster is said to have driven off after the shooting amid a spray of return fire from at least one other protester. The police took the driver, whose identity has not been revealed, into custody before releasing the person.

Foster was transported to the local Dell Seton Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, a police representative said at a press briefing earlier Sunday.

Capochiano told the Austin-American Statesman that a person driving a vehicle honked their horn and sped down Austin's Congress Avenue, hitting an orange barrel and driving through the crowd.

"There were people around the car, yelling, and people sounding like they were frightened," he told the paper.

As the Austin-American Statesman reported, a car horn could be heard in the background of a video livestreamed to Facebook just before eight gunshots. The video shows protesters running away from the vehicle, screaming.

A vigil for Foster was held Sunday in Austin, drawing hundreds.

"I'm here to show solidarity for the movement that he died for and also to remember him and to continue the fight," one attendee, Mark Bell, told the local television station KXAN.

Black Lives Matter protests against racism and police violence have erupted across the US since the May 25 police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. While most protests have been peaceful, they've sometimes turned chaotic and even deadly.

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Police reveal identity of man killed at Black Lives Matter protest in Austin, Texas - Insider - INSIDER

In early June, Erynn Chambers stepped onto her porch, just outside the front door of her North Carolina home, opened TikTok on her phone, and began to film herself.

"Black neighborhoods are overpoliced, so of course they have higher rates of crime," she sang to her own tune. "And white perpetrators are undercharged, so of course they have lower rates of crime."

Chambers, 27, who started using the short-form video app during quarantine, had just watched a TikTok by drag queen Online Kyne discussing the manipulation of statistics to make Black Americans appear more violent. Chambers, an elementary school music teacher, set her frustration to music.

"It went viral pretty much overnight," Chambers said. "It was incredible."

Chambers refers to her content, made under the user name @Rynnstar, as "edu-tainment" education and entertainment and she uses it, in part, to raise awareness of the American Black experience. She's one of a number of Black creators on TikTok who have used the app as a platform for advocacy against racism. Chambers' post has nearly 2 million views and was reposted countless times.

But TikTok sits uneasily at the intersection of viral social media, celebrity and activism. The platform has long been accused of elevating white voices over Black voices. While Black creators have been integral to the rise of TikTok some of the most popular dances, challenges and trends were born in the imaginations of Black TikTokers their work hasn't always gotten the same level of attention as that of their white peers.

Black creators said that their content wasn't highlighted on the "For You" page at the same rate as that of their white peers and that their videos have been taken down and audio-disabled without explanation, and experts say they often don't get credit for trends and challenges they start.

Over the last few months, however, in the wake of the deaths of George Floyd in police custody in May and Breonna Taylor in March, TikTok has made some forays into elevating Black creators on the app. Yet some worry that there's a flip side to the elevation of activism: burnout.

In early June, just days before Chambers' viral video was posted, TikTok posted an apology to its Black creators, saying it was sorry to those "who have felt unsafe, unsupported, or suppressed." TikTok promised long-term action to make the platform more diverse and to elevate Black creators. The apology came after a TikTok Blackout in May, an on-app protest against the suppression of Black voices, as protests against police brutality and racism took place worldwide.

Since then, some users of TikTok, including many Black creators, have reported seeing a more diverse and inclusive "For You" page, TikTok's infinite scroll homepage, which feeds users a constant stream of videos. In the past, the "For You" page has been accused of what might be called infinite whiteness.

But grading the app's move toward inclusiveness and how successfully it's amplifying Black voices differs across content creators. Some say they are optimistic that a more inclusive TikTok is in the works; others describe the battle for representation as simply exhausting. Each of the half-dozen Black TikTok creators who spoke to NBC News said they've experienced burnout but some, who say they are tired of arguing with followers and fighting for representation, are considering leaving the app altogether.

One frustration that can lead to burnout is the lack of credit given to Black creators who originate trends on the app, said University of Southern California assistant journalism professor Allissa Richardson, author of "Bearing Witness While Black: African Americans, Smartphones and the New Protest #Journalism."

"I saw a ton of Black youth creators complaining that even though they made up these dance challenges, they were increasingly being pushed to the bottom of the search results on TikTok," Richardson said.

Most famous is the renegade, a dance phenomenon that helped propel white creators like Charli D'Amelio to over 70 million followers. It was created by a Black 14-year-old named Jalaiah Harmon. Although the trend was, for a time, the most popular on the app, Jalaiah was recognized only toward the end of the trend's life cycle by mainstream media and TikTok alike, garnering profiles in the The New York Times and Teen Vogue. She now has over 1 million followers on TikTok.

TikTok isn't the only social media platform to have come under scrutiny over its handling of race. YouTube, Twitter and Reddit have been accused of allowing hate speech to thrive.

"TikTok is acknowledging the problem. They're not saying it's not real. They're saying we have work to do," said Bria Jones, 26, a fashion, beauty and lifestyle TikTok influencer based in Kansas. Jones, who goes by @HeyBriaJones on the app, has grown a base of more than 278,000 followers in just under a year.

Mutale Nkonde, a fellow at Stanford University's Digital Civil Society Lab who is a member of TikTok's independent advisory board, the Content Advisory Council (she doesn't work for TikTok), said she has been impressed with TikTok's proactiveness in addressing racism on the app.

"They're really leading in terms of seeking out people who will push back against the technology when the technology is not doing right by Black people," Nkonde said.

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The issues of racial bias and content suppression of Black creators on TikTok reached a boiling point on May 19, when Black TikTok creators held a Blackout to uplift their content and raise awareness that their videos were underrepresented.

During the Blackout, users changed their profile pictures to the Black Lives Matter raised fist. Black creators used specific hashtags like "#ImBlackMovement" and posted videos about their content and experiences on TikTok. In solidarity, some white creators agreed not to post content to help amplify their Black counterparts.

June 1 brought the TikTok apology.

TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer, along with some of the app's engineers, also held a video conference last month with around a dozen Black creators, including Jones, to learn more about their experiences.

"I do feel like they are making changes," Jones said. Other Black creators said they're noticing more equality on the app, too.

High school activist Deonna Blocker, 17, who goes by @Deesymone on the app, estimates that she now sees 70 percent Black creators on her "For You" page and 30 percent white creators. However, because every user's "For You" page is different based on the content a user interacts with, it's unclear whether any other user is being shown the same breakdown of content.

"I think they're definitely doing a better job at presenting Black creators. Before ... my ['For You' page] was very white, and I would very rarely see a Black creator," Deonna said. "Once everything went down with George Floyd and even Juneteenth and the Blackouts ... it went up significantly." Deonna's videos calling out racism and highlighting Blackouts have gotten thousands of views.

Improvement can be creator-specific: TikTok's "For You" homepage feeds each user a unique stream of content. While some Black creators say they're seeing changes noticing more engagement and increases in followers others say they believe they're shadow banned on the app, or blocked from reaching the main TikTok feed without any kind of notification from TikTok.

TikTok told NBC News it unequivocally does not shadow ban users.

Nkonde, the advisory council member, said the app has also told her it doesn't engage in shadow banning. But she said that if shadow banning still occurs as a glitch in the system, it must be addressed.

"If your app is just going to have all of these glitches and all of these glitches impact Black people, your app is still racist," Nkonde said.

Emily Barbour, 25, who is @emuhhhleebee on the app, said she feels as though she's being gaslighted when she's told that the app is working to highlight Black creators. Some videos Barbour has posted that she felt would typically get high levels of engagement have hardly made a blip on the radar of other TikTokers.

"It's exhausting, because it's just following along this pattern that's been going on for decades, years, centuries, where Black people aren't being heard and everybody's pretending it's not happening," Barbour said.

Chambers, who created the viral song, had used her platform to convey a wealth of information, from linguistics to history to activism, long before this spring's Black Lives Matter protests. But Chambers said that after the May Blackout and the June apology, she noticed that her account was starting to pick up traction. Her account has more than 400,000 followers.

Other TikTokers, like Jones, moved toward activism after Floyd's death.

"I started speaking on Black lives, and I started speaking on my experiences, and I started this series where I talked about my experiences with microaggressions, and that went very, very viral and brought in a lot of new followers for me, and those were just straight up stories I experienced," Jones said.

Jones said she shifted her TikTok's focus to include education when she interacted with followers who told her they had changed their behavior after learning from her.

But a large following can be excessively demanding.

"When you've got 400,000 people who want to hear you and are expecting to hear from you, it can be exhausting," Chambers said.

All of the creators who spoke to NBC News said they have experienced burnout at one point or another especially those whose pages have been elevated and whose follower counts have skyrocketed.

"People assume because you're willing to speak up about something, you're now an ambassador to everybody else in your demographic, and it's not true. ... It does contribute a lot to the burnout, because I don't know everything. Not one of us knows everything," Barbour said.

Barbour said that for Black creators, sharing their trauma in the name of education can feel draining and that having to argue with followers about their experiences can lead them to want to quit altogether.

"It's so unrealistic to assume because you like this Black creator and because they speak up about these things that they're going to speak up about everything and give their opinions about everything," she said. "It can't work, especially considering this is an app and it's something we're not getting paid for."

Frustration and burnout aren't the only side effects Black creators experience when their content isn't elevated and they're not given credit for their work, said Richardson, the journalism professor.

"For some of these kids, they do want to have that level of clout that will enable them to do other things that they love," she said. "And without that necessary audience, those eyeballs, without that metric in place to prove that they are an influencer, they're denied the lucrative endorsements that maybe their white peers receive more regularly."

Jones said she believes a more equitable TikTok is coming, particularly after the meeting with other Black creators and TikTok executives last month.

"It's a difficult issue, because it's so much deeper than an algorithm," Jones said. "It's a society thing. It's going to take a lot of work."

TikTok executives told Jones that they planned to check in with the creators who were invited to the meeting after 90 days to discuss whether they've seen improvements in the app's equity.

Jones said she's optimistic that the future of TikTok is one in which Black creators are on a level playing field with their white counterparts.

"It will come in time. I don't know what that timeline's going to look like, but I'm very hopeful TikTok has the resources and brainpower on their team to make this happen," she said.

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From the renegade to Black Lives Matter: How Black creators are changing TikTok culture - NBC News

The Black Lives Matter movement is a turning point in thehistory of our country.

The Los Angeles Dodgers know a lot about history, especiallywhen it comes to racial inequality. The organization that broke the colorbarrier in sports by signing Jackie Robinson on April 10, 1947, announced thatthey would auction off game-worn jerseys featuring the MLB's Black Lives Matterpatch that was worn by the team on Opening Day.

The Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation (LADF) is responsible for the auction that is currently available at Dodgers.com/auctions. The team announced that all of the net proceeds from the auction will be donated to the California Funders for Boys & Men of Color Southern California: Our Kids, Our Future Fund.

The auction features game-worn jerseys from entirety of the team's 30-man roster and coaching staff from their 8-1 Opening Day win over the rival San Francisco Giants.

Fans can place a bid on their favorite player's game-wornjersey, or a player or coach they feel a connection with. Among the featuredgame-used jerseys are reigning National League MVP Cody Bellinger,, JustinTurner, Kenley Jansen, Corey Seager, Max Muncy, Will Smith, Joc Pederson,Walker Buehler, A.J. Pollock, Ross Stripling, Alex Wood, and manager DaveRoberts.

The auction includes other Dodger memorabilia as well andwill run through August 9th.

The Dodgers Foundation has been an integral part of the community since 1995, and recently won ESPN's Sports Humanitarian Team of the Year Award. Their newest auction is part of a continued display of solidarity with social justice organizations.

Earlier this month, many of the white players on the Dodgers delivered a powerful video with a strong message speaking out against racial injustice in America, and showing their support for the Black Lives Matter movement, as well as their black teammates. As part of the video, the players wore specialty "In This Together" t-shirts, and matched all funds raised from the sale of those t-shirts.

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Dodgers to Auction Off Opening Day Black Lives Matter Jerseys - NBC Southern California

Orlando Magic forward Jonathan Isaac chose not to join his teammates in protest Friday. While the rest of the Magic got down on one knee during the national anthem, Isaac chose to stand.

Isaac, 22, was the only player to do so. Isaac was also the lone player on the court who didnt wear a Black Lives Matter shirt. Instead, he wore his Magic jersey and warmup pants during the anthem.

With the move, Isaac becomes the first NBA player to stand during the national anthem since the restart. During Thursdays game, every coach and player on the Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers, New Orleans Pelicans and Utah Jazz took a knee in protest of racial injustice and police brutality in the United States. Following Thursdays game, LeBron James said he hopes NBA players made former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick proud.

Isaac spoke about his decision after the game, saying he believes Black Lives Matter, but that kneeling and wearing a Black Lives Matter shirt doesnt go hand in hand with supporting Black lives.

Isaac began his answer by stating:

Absolutely. I believe that Black Lives Matter. A lot went into my decision. And part of it is, first off, is my thought that kneeling or wearing a Black Lives Matter t-shirt dont go hand in hand with supporting Black lives. So I felt like, just me personally, what it is that I believe is standing on the stance that: I do believe that Black Lives Matter, but I just felt like it was a decision that I had to make and I didnt feel like putting that shirt on and kneeling went hand in hand in supporting Black lives, or that it made me support Black lives or not.

He then spoke about his faith, saying he believes the answer to getting past all the evils of our society including racism is the gospel.

When asked to explain how kneeling correlates with his religion, Isaac said he didnt think kneeling or putting on a t-shirt, for me personally, is the answer. For me, Black lives are supported through the gospel.

Isaac echoed that sentiment in an interview with Click Orlando in June. In that interview, Isaac addressed George Floyds murder, racism in the United States and police brutality, saying he believes the answer is Jesus. Isaac is an ordained minister.

Following the national anthem demonstration, the Magic released a statement supporting Magic players for kneeling in protest.

The team said it was proud of its players, and stressed that the protests are not about the military, but about bigotry, racial injustice and the unwarranted use of violence by police.

The NBA has a rule stating kneeling is not allowed during the national anthem. Isaac followed that rule. NBA commissioner Adam Silver, however, said Thursday he would not punish players for kneeling during the anthem. Other players have yet to react to Isaacs decision to stand.

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Magic forward Jonathan Isaac only player to stand, not wear Black Lives Matter shirt during national anthem - Yahoo Sports