Singer kneels while performing anthem at
Miami NBA game
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[October 24, 2016]
By Joseph Ax
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A singer knelt while
performing the national anthem at a Miami Heat basketball game on Friday
and opened her jacket to reveal a shirt that read "Black Lives Matter,"
a variation on a protest that has punctuated many U.S. sporting events
since the summer.
Like other anthem protests, the gesture by Denasia Lawrence was intended
to highlight what activists say is unfair police treatment of
minorities. The trend began in August when San Francisco quarterback
Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the playing of the "Star-Spangled
Banner" before a preseason National Football League game.
Lawrence, a social worker, wrote on Facebook that the opportunity at the
preseason Heat game "was bigger than me."
"Right now, we're seeing a war on Black & Brown bodies - we're being
unjustly killed and overly criminalized," she continued. "I took the
opportunity to sing AND kneel; to show that we belong in this country
AND that we have the right to respectfully protest injustices against
us. I took the opportunity to sing AND kneel to show that, I too, am
America."
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In a statement, the Heat said, "We were unaware of it ahead of time."
Lawrence was not the first anthem singer to take a knee. Leah Tysse
knelt while singing before a preseason Sacramento Kings game two weeks
ago.
Kaepernick's silent protest ignited a fierce national debate over
whether refusing to stand during the anthem is disrespectful to the
country and its military or a political expression that goes to the
heart of the U.S. constitutional guarantee of free speech.
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![](../images/102416pics/news_I17.jpg)
National Anthem singer Denasia Lawrence kneels as she sings the
anthem prior to the game between the Miami Heat and the Philadelphia
76ers at American Airlines Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jasen
Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
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Other players in various sports, both at the professional and
amateur levels, have taken up the protest, with some raising their
fists in a move that recalls a famous gesture by U.S. track and
field athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos during a medal ceremony
at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City.
The Heat players and coaches stood and locked arms during the anthem
as they have done throughout the preseason as a show of unity.
"Throughout all of this, I think the most important thing that has
come out of this is a very poignant, thoughtful dialogue," said head
coach Erik Spoelstra after his team lost to the Philadelphia 76ers.
"We've had great dialogue within our walls here, and hopefully this
will lead to action."
(Reporting by Joseph Ax; Editing by Bernard Orr)
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