LeBron James announced Wednesday that he and several other professional athletes plan to found a charitable organization to protect black Americans' voting rights, five months ahead of the presidential election, The New York Times reported.
The move comes as mammoth protests have swept the United States and the world calling for an end to hundreds of years of racial discrimination against black people.
"We feel like we're getting some ears and some attention, and this is the time for us to finally make a difference," James told the Times.
The organization, called More Than A Vote, aims to encourage African Americans to register to vote and to show up to the polls for the November 3 elections.
The group will also fight against any factors that could contribute to African Americans' disenfranchisement.
"Yes, we want you to go out and vote, but we're also going to give you the tutorial," James told the 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, who has more than 135 million followers across Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, said he plans to use social media to denounce attempts to limit voting by racial minorities.
"King James" himself will finance the project, joined by basketball players Trae Young and Jalen Rose, football player Alvin Kamara and comedian Kevin Hart.
The group plans to collaborate with other get-out-the-vote organizations, the newspaper reported, including When We All Vote and Fair Fight.
The initiative comes as the U.S. grapples with renewed anger over racism and police violence after the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old African-American man who was killed last month when a police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.
James had expressed his own anger on Instagram, posting Floyd's last words "I can't breathe."
But James' voting rights move immediately drew pushback from leading Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong, who tweeted about James' failure to back protesters there:
Defending democracy is vital, but @KingJames only talks loud in the US. On China, not only is he silent, he actively shuts others up. He called @dmorey "misinformed" and "not really educated" for supporting #HongKong. All he cares about is money, not human rights. Hypocritical. https://t.co/vxVMWIjsjY — Joshua Wong 黃之鋒 😷 (@joshuawongcf) June 11, 2020
The voting movement is not the Los Angeles Laker's first foray into politics. He appeared at a campaign event for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in 2016.
Nor is it his first charitable endeavor: He has offered university scholarships through the LeBron James Family Foundation and even set up a school for third through eighth graders in his home state of Ohio.
James also heads a production studio producing a documentary about the massacre of approximately 300 African Americans in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1921.
RPG_are_my_initials on June 11st, 2020 at 15:12 UTC »
I volunteer with Election Protection and highly recommend that if anyone experiences potential voter suppression, including intimidation, misinformation, or being prevented entirely from voting, call Election Protection. The organization documents and investigates these cases. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to link the website or add the phone number but it will be the first result in Google. The organization is also a great resource if you have any general questions such as how and when to file absentee ballots, how to comply with local state COVID-19-related regulations, or even to find out your precinct location.
I worked during the Georgia and South Carolina elections this week and I alone received numerous calls of potential suppression ranging from last minute precinct changes, voters suddenly finding out they are not registered to vote, precincts lacking working or any electronic voting machines, especially long wait times, and even someone who declared they were voting for one political party but was nonetheless given a ballot for the either party. I cannot confirm any of these instances were in fact acts of suppression, but the sheer volume of cases that were reported is alarming. The organization had to call in as many additional volunteers as possible because call volume exceeded their best estimates. Voter suppression is a problem throughout the country, but it does appear Georgia experiences it at a higher rate.
Also in Georgia (I do not know if they work in other states) there is Fair Fight, which I do not have any direct experience with but I understand that they too work to document and fight voter suppression.
Everyone is entitled to an opportunity to vote.
EDIT: If you'd like to volunteer you can contact the organization https://866ourvote.org/volunteer/
If you're concerned about your health and safety, you should know that the call centers are run remotely at this time and you can take calls from your home.
TooShiftyForYou on June 11st, 2020 at 14:32 UTC »
After some voters in Georgia experienced hours of waiting in line to vote, James Tweeted: Everyone talking about “how do we fix this?” They say “go out and vote?” What about asking if how we vote is also structurally racist?
He makes a good point in this regard.
Lilbitofthisnthat on June 11st, 2020 at 14:30 UTC »
I’d like to see a group like this publish a report after the 2020 election showing how many people had their vote suppressed and which presidential candidate they supported.
If they could find a way to get accurate records that might really galvanize an anti-voter suppression movement.