LeBron James Working On Project 'More Than A Vote' To Protect Black Voting Rights
LeBron James and other prominent athletes and entertainers have founded a nonprofit group named More Than A Vote to fight black voter suppression and excite minority voters across the nation.
“Because of everything that’s going on, people are finally starting to listen to us — we feel like we’re finally getting a foot in the door,” James told the New York Times on Wednesday. “How long is up to us. We don’t know. But we feel like we’re getting some ears and some attention, and this is the time for us to finally make a difference.”
Amid the nationwide protests following the murder of George Floyd by a white police officer on May 25, James has used his massive social media following -- a combined 112 million followers on Twitter and Instagram -- to condemn racial injustices and police brutality.
James espoused voting as a way to create change, but questioned whether black voters are at a disadvantage after there were long lines and voting delays in minority counties across Georgia during Tuesday's primary elections.
"Everyone talking about 'how do we fix this?'" James tweeted Tuesday. "They say 'go out and vote?' What about asking if how we vote is also structurally racist?"
James wants to make sure black voices are heard in November's election. Other notable athletes on board with his nonprofit group include NBA players Draymond Green, Eric Bledsoe and Trae Young, according to the Los Angeles Times. Former NBA players Stephen Jackson, Kendrick Perkins, Udonis Haslem and Jalen Rose are also participating, as well as WNBA players Skylar Diggins-Smith and Chiney Ogwumike.
“Yes, we want you to go out and vote, but we’re also going to give you the tutorial,” James told the New York Times. “We’re going to give you the background of how to vote and what they’re trying to do, the other side, to stop you from voting.”
James has long used his fame call out racial and societal ills. In 2012, he helped spearhead his then-Miami Heat to wear hoodies in honor of Trayvon Martin, who was killed by George Zimmerman. In 2014, he wore a T-shirt that said "I can't breathe," which were Eric Garner's final words before he died after being placed in a chokehold by a police officer in New York.
James also spoke out against the deaths of Michael Brown, Aavielle Wakefield and Ahmaud Arbery.
"We’re literally hunted EVERYDAY/EVERYTIME we step foot outside the comfort of our homes!" James tweeted in May after Arbery, a black man, was shot by two white men in February while he was on a jog near his home in Brunswick, Georgia. "Can’t even go for a damn jog man! Like WTF man are you kidding me?!?!?!?!?!? No man fr ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!!! I’m sorry Ahmaud (Rest In Paradise) and my prayers and blessings sent to the heavens above to your family!!"
James, a three-time NBA champion and four-time MVP, has been very active off the court championing various platforms, including education reform. In 2018, he founded the I Promise School in his hometown of Akron, Ohio, to help at-risk youth.
James said in February that he's not considering running for president one day, but his former Lakers teammate DeMarcus Cousins acknowledged on Showtime's "All The Smoke" podcast that he's urged him to consider it.
Lakers' coach Frank Vogel added that if James chose to go that route, he thinks he'd be successful.
"I don’t know how to say it any stronger than he’s one of the best leaders I’ve been around," Vogel said. "So I think he would obviously be great in that if that were to happen."
This much is for sure, James wants to be known as much more than an athlete.
“I’m inspired by the likes of Muhammad Ali, I’m inspired by the Bill Russells and the Kareem Abdul-Jabbars, the Oscar Robertsons — those guys who stood when the times were even way worse than they are today,” James told the New York Times. “Hopefully, someday down the line, people will recognize me not only for the way I approached the game of basketball, but the way I approached life as an African-American man.”
