Norman Powell "disappointed" by NBA's jersey statement list
When Toronto Raptors guard Norman Powell returns to the court for the team's first nationally televised game on August 1 he'll wear "Black Lives Matter" on his jersey.
The Black Lives Matter movement has spread across the world in the wake of George Floyd's killing on May 25 by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. It has come to mean that enough is enough, the systematic racism throughout much of the world must be stopped because Black lives — like those of other races — matter.
For Powell, the three words were the most "racial" saying that spoke to where he stands on the issue of social injustice. The problem for Powell, was the three words don't go far enough.
"I was really disappointed in the options that were given to us," Powell said. "First and foremost, I feel like with a topic such as this, social justice that we're fighting for, the fact that we were boxed in to a list of 28, 29 sayings was really unfortunate. We have a lot of guys that have a voice and are using their voice in this time and we're really excited about the whole thing about being able to change our last names and put a quote there that represents where we stand and what we want to say and how we feel about this. I was really upset with the whole change and how we were really limited, I felt like the list was very cookie-cutter and really doesn't touch the topics of what we're trying to achieve here.
"Honestly, for me," he continued. "I wish there wasn't even a list. It's a topic where it's freedom of speech and you're taking your name off the back of your jersey to put something on that matters to you, that speaks volumes to how you view things and your approach to life and we shouldn't be boxed in to 'you can only say this much' or 'this is OK for you to say,' we shouldn't be boxed in to a topic like this. I felt like the rules should have been as long as it wasn't anything explicit or any cursing in any of your saying that you should have been able to put anything you want on the back of your jersey because it's your last name that you're removing, that's you, and it speaks to yourself, so I don't think there should have been a list at all, I don't think we should have been boxed in to 28, 29 sayings, we shouldn't have been boxed in to 'you're only going to wear it for this many games,' we shouldn't have been boxed in."
The NBA's list of 29 pre-approved terms includes: Black Lives Matter; Say Their Names; Vote; I Can't Breathe; Justice; Peace; Equality; Freedom; Enough; Power to the People; Justice Now; Say Her Name; Sí Se Puede (Yes We Can); Liberation; See Us; Hear Us; Respect Us; Love Us; Listen; Listen to Us; Stand Up; Ally; Anti-Racist; I Am A Man; Speak Up; How Many More; Group Economics; Education Reform; and Mentor.
Powell said he wanted to wear "Am I Next?"
