Carmelo Anthony is honoring his pledge to fight for social justice in the black community.
And the star athlete did just that on Monday, when he hosted a town hall discussion in South Central Los Angeles. Black and Latino youth, fellow athletes and members of law enforcement came together for what he described during a press conference after the event as an “honest conversation.”
“We talked about the issues [that are] going on out there today, and we talked about solutions,” Anthony told reporters after the event.
The New York Knicks player revealed (in a video posted to his Facebook, above) that his biggest takeaway from the event was what the black and Latino youth had to say about their relationship with police.
“A lot of the things that were brought up by the youth were respect, trust and communicating,” Anthony said.
“How to respect one another ― officers to civilians, civilians to officers.”
Anthony is one of the many black athletes who are making a public effort to discuss and find solutions to America’s issues with race and police brutality. The NBA player (alongside Lebron James, Chris Paul and Dwyane Wade) urged his fellow athletes to speak out against police brutality at the ESPY awards in June, and promised to set an example by using his platform to enact change. Even basketball icon Michael Jordan on Monday issued a letter speaking out on the recent shootings of black people and police officers.
“About time that he stepped up,” Anthony said of Jordan’s letter during his press conference.
“At the end of the day, amongst us, he is our face. He’s a very powerful African-American. So for him to step up in the midst of these times now, it was very big.”
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