We Matter

by Etan Thomas

  Etan: You are Bill Russell, you can tell me as many stories as you wanna tell me (laughing).

  Russell: (Laughing) Well, okay. I remember when I was in college, a few of the coaches would send guys into the game for no other reason but to pick a fight with me. They didn’t play much, weren’t really that good, to be honest . . . but their sole purpose for being sent into the game was to pick a fight with me so that I would get thrown out the game . . . And I knew what they were doing and I understand why they were doing it. So I had to develop a way of taking care of them without being thrown out the game and allowing them to achieve their goal. I had to have self-control. And I also developed some of the sharpest elbows in the NBA (laughing), but I didn’t let their plan work.

  Etan: I am trying to wrap my mind around the level of self-control you had to have your entire career.

  Russell: Self-control is just a part of life. Doesn’t mean you stop doing what you’re doing. It just means that you maintain the self-control not to allow them to sabotage you . . . When I was in the third grade, we moved into the projects. The first time I went out to play, they ran me home . . . My mother said, “You better always stand up for yourself.” And she took me throughout the neighborhood and made me fight every last one of those kids. Now, I was physically afraid of my mother, but I learned so much from her and my father. But the point was always to never let anyone think that they can get away with making you feel less-than, never allow anyone to knock you off your game or keep you away from your purpose.

  Chapter 3

  The Kaepernick Movement Matters

  Seeing all of the venom spewed at Colin Kaepernick takes me back to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Today, even Republicans admit that there were no weapons of mass destruction, no direct connection to 9/11, and no true reason to invade Iraq. But back in 2003, it was thought to be anti-American, even treasonous, to speak out against the Iraq invasion. I was playing for the Washington Wizards in the nation’s capital at the time and simply couldn’t keep quiet about what I saw as blatant disrespect to our troops—sending them in harm’s way because of deliberate lies perpetuated by then-president George W. Bush. I began reciting my poems at rallies and marches around Washington, DC. Sometimes thirty or forty people came. At other times, hundreds or even thousands showed up. I delivered each poem with the same tenacity, no matter the size of the crowd.

  Here is an excerpt from my poem “Hoodwinked”:

  A poet once posed the question

  What father and son benefited the most from 9/11

  Unable to overcome his grip on your mind

  You helplessly became his next victim

  He had the perfect strategy

  His tune you would all soon sing

  He pumped terror into the minds of the multitude like unleaded gasoline

  He tricked y’all

  Had you all shook

  Scared of your own shadow

  On the run from the sun thinking it was coming after you

  Heightened terror alerts

  From green to yellow

  From yellow to orange baffled your mental stability

  You actually believed he could keep you out of harm’s way

  He had you nestled in the palm of his hand

  A herd of blind sheep led astray

  The truth never set you free from his grasp

  Even after you learned of his lies

  Continuously rising like the tide of an ocean

  His mountains of deceit never bothered you

  Why?

  Y’all had to know he wasn’t keeping it real

  Stealing your joy with scare tactics

  He peeled away at your emotions

  Fear is the final frontier of the unenlightened masses who believe everything they hear

  Accepting as true all of the lies that Fox News tells you

  Using their “fair and balanced” strategy to cause commotions in your rhythmic patterns

  He scattered your brains

  Played on your ignorance like a fiddle

  Making you tap dance to his tune of fear

  He was Geppetto pulling your strings

  Holding you down and making your soul cry during an election year

  A tragedy like Romeo and Juliet

  Y’all gladly drank from his cup of poison

  I attempted to get my message out to the papers, but nobody wanted to cover it. Then, at one particular antiwar rally, I performed a poem called “The Field Trip.” I named some ten Republicans I wanted to take on a field trip to see the results of their policies. Soon the story of the rally was everywhere.

  The Kaepernick controversy reminds me of the hate mail delivered to me at the MCI Center (now the Capital One Arena). Before the rally, I would get a few letters here and there, but after it I started getting boxes. Some of the letters were supportive, but a lot of them were filled with anger and hate.

  Today, I take my hat off to Colin Kaepernick for everything he is enduring, especially now in the age of social media. Every Tom, Dick, and Harry can develop what I call “Twitter courage” and type a hateful, evil condemnation of the player.

  In September 2016, Kaepernick reported that he had received death threats as a result of his decision to kneel during the national anthem. That shouldn’t surprise anyone. Muhammad Ali, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, John Carlos, Tommie Smith, and countless other athletes who have taken stances viewed as “unpatriotic” have received similar threats.

  Isn’t it interesting that many of the same people who are currently calling Kaepernick “unpatriotic” disrespected President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama for eight years?

  Isn’t it also interesting that those same people who describe Kaepernick’s stance as disrespectful to veterans haven’t expressed anger toward George W. Bush, who sent those brave soldiers whose lives are precious and should be valued to die for a lie? Isn’t it interesting that these same conservatives have voted against better health care and aid to vets after they come home?

  A lot of people have a confused interpretation of patriotism. If you’re not offended by the fact that one out of two veterans who have returned from Iraq or Afghanistan knows a fellow soldier who has attempted suicide; or by the half a million vets who don’t have insurance; or the thirty-nine thousand who are homeless—but you are offended by Colin Kaepernick taking a knee during the national anthem—then you have greatly misplaced your patriotism.

  It’s beautiful how Colin Kaepernick’s message is spreading and resonating with so many other athletes, from high school football teams to Howard University cheerleaders.

  At first, only 49ers teammate Eric Reid joined Kaepernick. But then more teammates, including Antoine Bethea, Eli Harold, Jaquiski Tartt, and Rashard Robinson, joined in, raising their fists during the national anthem before a game against the Carolina Panthers.

  Next, Jeremy Lane of the Seattle Seahawks sat during the national anthem. Kansas Chiefs cornerback Marcus Peters raised his fist, and told reporters he supports Kaepernick’s efforts to raise awareness about our broken justice system. On Sunday Night Football, Patriots tight end Martellus Bennett and safety Devin McCourty also raised their fists for the national anthem.

  Although he lost two endorsement deals, Denver Broncos linebacker Brandon Marshall also took a knee, and said he would continue to kneel.

  What’s almost more impressive is how this message is affecting high school athletes, who, as we know, are greatly influenced by professional athletes. They are watching, learning, and taking stances of their own because they have their own experiences with injustice. Some have bravely faced down adversity, hatred, and threats of physical harm.

  In September 2016, a Brunswick, Ohio, high school football player named Rodney Axson Jr. was threatened with lynching and called the N-word by his white teammates after he knelt to protest racism.

  In Seattle, Garfield High School’s entire football team and coaching staff took a knee while the national anthem played before their Friday-night g
ame on September 16, 2016.

  They were not intimidated by a number of public figures who all used their platforms to discredit, condemn, and ridicule Colin Kaepernick and other athletes for having the moral courage to stand up for what they believe in. One would think they would be just as vocal in condemning social injustice and the countless murders at the hands of the police that have gone unpunished. More than two dozen Black people were killed during encounters with police in just the first six weeks after Kaepernick began protesting. Where is their condemnation of that?

  They were silent when police murdered unarmed Terence Crutcher in Tulsa, Oklahoma; he was guilty of having car trouble and expecting the police to help him out. They had nothing to say when the Charlotte police killed Keith Lamont Scott, a mentally impaired Black man allegedly guilty of reading a book in his car. In both of these cases, the officers went out on paid administrative leave. As Colin Kaepernick said in a postgame interview, “There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.” They should be outraged at that and not at whether Colin Kaepernick and other athletes are sitting or standing during the national anthem.

  As a wise saying goes, Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are just as outraged as those who are.

  Here I am listening to Esaw Garner, the widow of Eric Garner, during a Black Lives Matter panel discussion in Harlem.

  Interview with Eric Reid

  I applaud all of the athletes who have had the moral courage to withstand the backlash, the criticism, the outrage, the venom, and all of the hate, and have used their platform to speak out and bring awareness to an issue that has plagued our country for far too long.

  Kaepernick’s teammate Eric Reid was the first one who truly stood by him. Reid listened to Kaepernick’s reasons and concerns, saw the backlash that he was getting, and said that there was no way on earth he was going to allow his teammate to take this burden alone. When I interviewed Reid, he expressed how police murders hit close to him, especially Alton Sterling’s, which happened in his hometown of Baton Rouge. Not only was Reid’s support of Kaepernick courageous, but he shared his passion as well.

  Etan: What led to your decision to join Kaepernick in taking a knee during the national anthem?

  Eric Reid: I had a couple of discussions with him leading up to it, and he told me how he felt, and I felt the same way regarding a lot of the issues that were happening in this country, particularly with police brutality. I just felt that people were losing their lives over traffic stops and nobody was being held accountable for that. The way that things kept playing out was, you would have the initial report, they would say it was under investigation, and nothing would really happen. All of these families would be forced to deal with another loss of life, and nothing seemed to be changing, and I was growing very frustrated with the entire justice system. So, since my personal beliefs and thoughts were in line with his on this subject, I wanted to show some solidarity and some support for my teammate. He was getting a lot of backlash and I couldn’t just not support him when I felt the same way that he did.

  Etan: Initially, it seemed like you were the only one supporting him. After a while, more and more players from across the NFL began joining him in solidarity, but he was kind of out there by himself at first.

  Reid: Well, the way it went down was that he wasn’t standing for about three games before anybody recognized what he was doing. It wasn’t until he dressed and put shoulder pads on to play in the game, and that’s when the media recognized it, and then I believe I joined him the week after. I think it was just a product of the time of the year. Guys were concerned with making the football team, and they didn’t want to do anything that would put themselves in a position to not make the team, and I can’t fault anybody for that. You have to do what you have to do to provide for your family. It’s a tough position to be in, to be honest, because you are at your employer’s discretion; our contracts are such that we can in fact be let go for any reason, even if it has nothing to do with our actual performance on the field. I believe that a lot of guys wanted to show support from the jump, but they also had a legitimate concern about job safety and job security.

  Etan: So Kaepernick began this stance by sitting during the national anthem, and then he changed to kneeling. I was reading where you all had a meeting with Nate Boyer, who was a Bay Area native and former Green Beret and later wrote an open letter in support of you and Kaepernick. Talk about that meeting and how it helped Kaepernick shift from sitting down during the national anthem to kneeling.

  Reid: So we were in San Diego, getting ready for our preseason game. Kap told me that Mr. Nate Boyer was coming and asked me to join him in that meeting, and I said of course, because our whole purpose or goal from the beginning was to keep the conversation going about the issues, in hopes that we would see some changes in the system. So we had a meeting for like two hours and we were all being very candid with each other. We were explaining how we felt as members of the Black community and he explained how he felt as a member of the military and the veteran community, and he told us that quite frankly that he and some of his friends were quite pissed when they saw Kap sitting down during the anthem and took it as an insult to their years of service, their sacrifice for us . . . But then, after he heard why we were doing it, about our frustrations with the system . . . he said he had no problem with it whatsoever. He served to protect our freedom of speech, and he commended us for speaking on a subject that needed to be discussed.

  So as the conversation moved along, we got on the subject of the actual gesture of sitting down. And myself, I agreed with him that there was probably a better way to put that message across, because we knew that when you do something like this, people are going to find a way to attack you, so we can’t give them a reason . . . We came up with taking a knee as opposed to sitting down. We felt like in many ways, taking a knee is in fact respectful—people get on their knees when they pray—and we felt it would be a better way for us to . . . maybe increase the chances of them being able to hear our actual message. I prayed about it and I sought guidance from my pastor, and for me, this felt like the right thing to do . . . My faith talks about being a voice of the oppressed, and that’s all I was trying to do.

  Etan: Tell me about the backlash you all received.

  Reid: I didn’t pay much attention to the hate. I saw some pretty terrible things on Twitter, but I didn’t let it bother me too much, and I knew that if anyone wanted to approach me man-to-man in real life, I had no problem with having a discussion with them about this, and I did have many discussions with many people. I think that anger is a weak emotion, and if your first reaction to seeing something is anger, I believe that you lack the ability to communicate and you are very closed-minded. I think that was a lot of what was happening. People saw headlines, they saw that we weren’t standing for the anthem, or however the media chose to phrase it, and they grew angry and mad about it without actually paying attention to why we were doing it.

  Etan: You have talked about how close to home the Alton Sterling murder hit for you, especially being from Baton Rouge. If you could speak with Alton Sterling’s son, what would you say?

  Reid: I would say that I was moved to tears when I found out what happened and that I struggle to find words to describe how sorry I am that that happened to his father. And that it shouldn’t have happened . . . We are one of the richest countries in the world. And the people who are supposed to be protecting us are killing us. And I would let him know that there are a lot of people out there who are fighting to get that system changed because it makes no sense for people to continue to lose their lives over nothing . . . The police officer enters the situation, ultra-aggressive based solely on the appearance of the suspect. And it shouldn’t be that way. I have police officers who are my friends. I believe . . . they signed up for that job to protect and serve. It doesn’t say, Do whatever you can so you can get home safely, it says to protect and serve, an
d if they are not protecting and serving everyone, then they are not doing their job . . . I hope that all of these families know that there are people who are fighting for them and fighting for this system to be changed.

  Etan: The lack of empathy . . .

  Reid: That was probably the most mind-blowing part for me—that so many people lacked the very human emotion of empathy. How could you watch a family hurt so much and simply write it off as he should have listened to the officer, or he didn’t have the right facial expression or tone of voice, and actually use that as a justification for a man losing his life? . . . People don’t value God’s creation. God made us and gave us life. And you look at loss of life and don’t bat an eye at it. I still don’t understand how people hide behind the law. You can’t just say that this was wrong; you have to say, well, it was legal. I don’t care if it was legal or not. Slavery was legal. Segregation was legal. The Holocaust was legal. Legal has nothing to do with it being right or not. And . . . to have to reexplain it and reexplain it, and you still not get it? These families have lost members and will never be able to see them again for the rest of their lives. Alton Sterling’s son now has no father. For the rest of his entire life, he will never be able to have a relationship with his father. That should bother you as much as it bothers me.

  Etan: Does it test your faith?

  Reid: It does, and the thing that I always come back to is that the Lord’s wisdom is almighty and it surpasses all human understanding. And I am sure that so many things happen in the world that I simply don’t understand. Yes, I get frustrated. Yes, I get angry. Yes, I begin to lose faith. But I have to lean on my heavenly Father for strength to continue fighting. The Bible tells us that one day we all have to take that knee before God and give an account for our life, and people will be punished. I saw something the other day that said, if the punishment for sin was given immediately, people wouldn’t sin. But it’s given in the afterlife, and people will have to deal with what’s coming. So that’s what keeps me going. My faith, and Judgment Day, knowing that God will punish and reward people based on what they have done in their lives. And that’s a far worse punishment than any jury can give any of these policemen who feel they got off scot-free. But here on earth, we are going to keep fighting for what is right.