Cooper called for sustained engagement from athletes on whatever level they are comfortable – from continuing the conversation to meeting with groups like Black Lives Matter, the NAACP and 100 Black Men to identify specific issues and target ways to improve them. Cooper also discussed the need to have benchmarks in which progress can be measured.
“All these athletes say we care about the Black Lives Matter movement, in a year from now we want to see that you’ve actually been continuing in championing the support,” Cooper said. “Muhammed Ali’s legacy is a great example of how he didn’t rest on his laurels in making one decision and saying OK, that’s enough.
“In a concise manner, the steps forward are sustained engagement. What that looks like for each individual athlete and each community will be different. But it definitely involves tangible action, civic responsibility and engagement and accountability measures. The call for accountability has to be followed up with actual consequences if certain things aren’t done.”
Edwards pointed to the need for progress on both an individual and collective level. He said trust and respect needs to be built between individuals and police, and both sides need to acknowledge wrongdoing. There are criminals in the community that deserve to be arrested and there are rogue officers that deserve to be held accountable for excessive force.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member