Denasia Lawrence, the National Anthem singer at this past Friday's NBA preseason game, decided to do something that is becoming more and more common at sporting events. As she sang the last line of the anthem, she kneeled, later claiming that she didn't do it for any kind of personal fame. "It was bigger than me", she said of taking the opportunity to sing at the game and making her respectful protest. These outward protests have been labeled as disrespectful and irreverent by many, but the people taking these actions are doing it in the name of social justice. Lawrence claims her kneel was an act of solidarity for the black lives matter movement. "It's far larger than a hashtag, it's a rallying cry", she says. After a social media uproar, Miami Heat officials took to Twitter, claiming they had no prior knowledge of the pregame protest.
This event can be tied to Colin Kaepernick's refusal to stand during the National Anthem this past August. These protests are being done, it seems to me, with good intentions. Not only are they peaceful protests, but they're being executed on a platform that has a lot of exposure and media coverage. The choice to use sporting events is a wise one in my opinion because events like this are attended and watched by people of all racial and religious backgrounds. Sports aren't exclusive to one kind of person, making the reaction to protests like these less severe, but still resonant.
http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/22/us/denasia-lawrence-singer-national-anthem/index.html
I saw this on Twitter the other day. I get pretty emotional on the down-low when I see stuff like this because I know that I'm witnessing all of these events that will definitely go down in history. I think it's especially cool that I get see all of these things happen in live action on social media.
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