LeBron James, Patrick Mahomes, More Stars Sign Letter Against Voter Suppression
August 17, 2020
A number of athletes, including LeBron James, Patrick Mahomes and Sloane Stephens, all signed a letter addressed to "fans of every age, race and gender" that condemns voter suppression, according to Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated.
"We saw you in the streets. We saw your social media posts. Your voices are breaking through, but it's now time to do more," the letter stated. "We know you have the ability to organize. So join us and take your protest to the election and fight to keep our community from being silenced. The most important thing you all need to know is Black voters matter more than ever."
Other current and former professional athletes who signed the letter included:
Emmanuel Acho, Ray Allen, Jozy Altidore, Tim Anderson, Mo Bamba, Odell Beckham Jr., Eric Bledsoe, Caron Butler, Carlton Davis, Skylar Diggins, Jeremy Ebobisse, Mike Evans, Draymond Green, Brittney Griner, Udonis Haslem, Andrew Hawkins, Jason Heyward, DeAndre Hopkins, Alvin Kamara, Damian Lillard, Kyle Lowry, CJ McCollum, Renee Montgomery, Justin Morrow, Arike Ogunbowale, Dare Ogunbowale, Chiney Ogwumike, Jeff Okudah, Kendrick Perkins, David Price, Jalen Rose, CC Sabathia, Ben Simmons, Marcus Stroman, Kristi Toliver, Michael Vick, Bobby Wagner, A'ja Wilson and Trae Young.
The letter was written by More Than A Vote, the non profit organization founded by James and a number of athletes with the goal of assisting the Black community at the polls and helping to ensure more Black people are able to vote.
One of the early efforts of the organization has been to convert sporting arenas to polling centers, already partnering with the Los Angeles Dodgers to make Dodger Stadium one such polling area.
"This all came together during the protests against police brutality," James told Spears regarding More Than A Vote. "All of us were angry, which we still are, and wanted to do something with real impact right now. We didn't want to talk about it. We organized around voter suppression in our community because it's very real and if we want actual change, it's going to start by educating, energizing and protecting Black voters in 2020."