Cal LB Kuony Deng Discusses Two Issues: Racial Injustice, Jason Brown

Cal linebacker Kuony Deng is poised to be a star in 2020--if there is a Pac-12 season in 2020--but he also has been outspoken on the Black Lives Matter issue. He discussed that in the video above as well as a very different issue: Jason Brown, the colorful coach at Independence Junior College in 2018 when Deng attended that school and Netflix produced a documentary on that season.

Regarding the Black Lives Matter Issue:

"I think we live in a society that does not value Black bodies and Black life," Deng said, "and it's important for all of us to recognize that and to work toward solutions, you know, on systemic racism.

"It's not shown as much in the media, but people are still out in the streets marching, people are still demanding justice, demanding justice for Breonna Taylor and many more, and signing petitions, continue to organize, continue to eduate. So those things have to be continuous."

What is the most optimistic aspect he has seen?

"I'm really refreshed just to see the stamina of the people out there in the streets," Deng said. "I see Vietnam war veterans marching in the streets. I see young people, old people, people of all different races. That's the kind of thing that refreshes me. When we hear from the elders, that's what they always tell us that's the biggest difference from 1968 to 2020--it's not just Black people marching in the streets, it's everybody. And that's always going to be refreshing to me"

Many Cal athletes have taken a similar stance:

A Statement From Our Black Student-Athletes 🗣️#BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/3vlVFcMTow
— Cal Athletics (@CalAthletics) July 28, 2020

From that topic, we took made a dramatic turn to Jason Brown, whose personality was the centerpiece of the Netflix series "Last Chance U" when it focused on the 2017 and 2018 seasons at Independence Junior College. Watching that series made it impossible not to have an opinion about the outspoken head coach.

The opinion of Deng, who played for Independence in 2018, was unquestionably positive.

"Coach Brown? That's my dog, man," Deng said. "Obviously a really, really ouspoken guy, really explicit in nature. Rubs a lot of people the wrong way. But my experiences with him--obviously I played at Independence under him, he recruited me there--I have a lot of respect for him. What he built over there is something that's really special. You see it every year now."

Deng talked abount the number of Independence players who have gone on to Power Five conferences.

Sometimes documentaries have a way of portraying participants in a certain light, but Deng said this was a fairly accurate portrayal.

"He wasn't faking for the cameras or anything," Deng said. "That's the way he is when he addresses the team. That's just his background, where he comes from. That's how he's used to interacting.

"When you talk to him one-on-one it's obviously way different, though. He's a much smarter and much more emotionally interlligent person than you would probably think. When you sit down and have a onversation with him you figure that out in two seconds."

Follow Jake Curtis of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53

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