Carmelo Anthony Makes Statement About Philando Castile and Alton Sterling

by Christopher Rosa 7/9/2016

The world is still in shock following the tragic deaths of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling, two Black men who were killed by police officers this week. Many celebrities including Beyoncé and VH1 Live host Marc Lamont Hill have publicly addressed the deaths, and now Carmelo Anthony is joining the conversation. In a huge way.

The New York Knicks forward posted a lengthy message on Instagram urging his fellow athletes to be proactive about fighting for change.

“I’m calling for all my fellow ATHLETES to step up and take charge,” Anthony wrote on his page. “Go to your local officials, leaders, congressman, assemblymen/assemblywoman and demand change. There’s NO more sitting back and being afraid of tackling and addressing political issues anymore.”

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First off let me start off by saying " All Praise Due To The Most High." Secondly, I'm all about rallying, protesting, fighting for OUR people. Look I'll even lead the charge, By Any Means Necessary. We have to be smart about what we are doing though. We need to steer our anger in the right direction. The system is Broken. Point blank period. It has been this way forever. Martin Luther King marched. Malcolm X rebelled. Muhammad Ali literally fought for US. Our anger should be towards the system. If the system doesn't change we will continue to turn on the TVs and see the same thing. We have to put the pressure on the people in charge in order to get this thing we call JUSTICE right. A march doesn't work. We tried that. I've tried that. A couple social media post/tweet doesn't work. We've all tried that. That didn't work. Shooting 11 cops and killing 5 WILL NOT work. While I don't have a solution, and I'm pretty sure a lot of people don't have a solution, we need to come together more than anything at this time. We need each other. These politicians have to step up and fight for change. I'm calling for all my fellow ATHLETES to step up and take charge. Go to your local officials, leaders, congressman, assemblymen/assemblywoman and demand change. There's NO more sitting back and being afraid of tackling and addressing political issues anymore. Those days are long gone. We have to step up and take charge. We can't worry about what endorsements we gonna lose or whose going to look at us crazy. I need your voices to be heard. We can demand change. We just have to be willing to. THE TIME IS NOW. IM all in. Take Charge. Take Action. DEMAND CHANGE. Peace7 #StayMe7o

A post shared by Carmelo Anthony (@carmeloanthony) on Jul 8, 2016 at 8:02am PDT

A big reason why athletes–and public figures in general–stay quiet is because they’re afraid of losing promotional deals that can mean big money. However, Anthony urged sports figures to see the bigger picture.

“We can’t worry about what endorsements we gonna lose or whose going to look at us crazy,” Anthony said. “I need your voices to be heard. We can demand change. We just have to be willing to.” Damn straight. Read the rest of his message here.

And Anthony’s wife La La is right by his side. The television personality reposted her hubby’s message on her own Instagram page. She’s also been quite active on her own social accounts about last week’s events. Check out one of her poignant posts below.