Carmelo Anthony was one of the first athletes who spoke out after the shootings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, as well as the shooting of five Dallas Police officers. He called his fellow athletes to action, and he followed through with his appearance at the ESPYS, alongside good friends Chris Paul, Dwyane Wade, and LeBron James.
Now he is following through on his call to action by hosting a community meeting in Los Angeles. The meeting will be on Monday [July 25] and Carmelo will be joined by community leaders, athletes and politicians to discuss police related shootings.
The meeting will be closed to the media so that those attending won’t hesitate to speak truthfully and open up to a dialogue. He told ESPN that he wants to start a conversation that involves everyone:
“We want to get youth. We want to get kids. We want to get adults. We want to get officers. We want to get teachers. We want to get community leaders, athletes, everybody, having this conversation and talking on both sides, hearing each other out. It’s part of continuing what I started off. The problem is, people don’t have answers. I think everybody is searching for answers. People are searching for what to do and how to do it. We’re not going to find answers overnight. It’s not going to happen.”
Melo is obviously not holding back. In his message to his fellow athletes, he urged them to forget about their sponsors and the potential to lose money, and he clearly is not afraid to speak out. He and his close friends in the NBA have said that Muhammad Ali was their idol and their inspiration, and they are now starting to follow in his footsteps. Hopefully he and his fellow athletes can help generate a conversation on race in America and safe policing.
Respect: ESPN
