LeBron James.Photo: Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
The death of 17-year-old Martin, who was Black and unarmed at the time he and Zimmerman crossed paths, ignited a nationwide movement against gun violence and initiated many discussions about racial injustice.
Los Angeles Lakers playerLeBron James, who played for the Miami Heat at the time of Martin’s death, said the incident sparked his passion for speaking out about social issues in America — something he didn’t feel prepared to do before then.
“Until you know who you are, it’s hard to speak for other people. Or speak for anything. You got to be comfortable with yourself,” James said in arecent interviewwith ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.
“I think it’s unfortunate that we, as a society sometimes, we want certain people to talk and we want certain people to [take on issues],” James added. “Like, ‘Why aren’t you speaking for [this community]?’ I think for me, when I was younger, I wasn’t in that position to do that.”
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“We had an opportunity to make a statement,” James told ESPN of the picture. “We had an opportunity to really raise awareness to a situation that hit home for a lot of us, because a lot of us had kids. A lot of us had sons.”
“Everywhere that we went, we always traveled in our Miami Heat hoodies. Everywhere we went. That was like our uniform,” he continued. “When we traveled on the road, we had a Miami Heat hoodie on. When we came down for our team meetings, we were always unified [wearing the hoodies].”
In subsequent years, the deaths of more Black Americans, includingGeorge FloydandBreonna Taylor, sparked movements similar to the one following Martin’s death. This eventually led to theBlack Lives Mattermovement that gained even more nationwide traction in 2020.
James and other NBA players were outspoken in their support for change in the country.
“We can’t stop speaking up for things that are unjust,” James toldESPN. “We can’t stop speaking up about things that we feel are wrong — or things that are right. And calling out people that literally are simply just bad people.”
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In 2019, Sybrina Fulton, Martin’s mother, opened up toPEOPLEabout how has attempted to heal in the year following her son’s death.
“I didn’t feel like I would ever enjoy life again, but slowly I started incorporating the things that I used to do before into my life again, and I started to tell myself it was okay for me to enjoy life, to continue to enjoy life,” she explained.
“Yes, I lost my son, but I had to keep living or I would have lost my son and lost my life, too,” Fulton added, “because it would have been like I’m walking around with no life.”
source: people.com
