“We Will Not Be Silenced”: WNBA Players Fire Back

Other team members in the WNBA league have joined in to protest against the recent killings by and against the police.

After the Friday night match between Washington Mystics and Los Angeles, the Mystics players changed into a black T-shirt with the inscription, “Black Lives Matter: Enough Is Enough.” Despite their defeat on the night, the team members refused to comment on the match but rather used the opportunity to address the worrying trend of injustice and inequality.

The ladies clothed in black T-shirt express their concern to the media about the recent killing of two Black men; Alton Sterling and Philando Castile and also, the shooting of Charles Kinsey by a cop while he was attending to an autistic patient.  They further, spoke against the shooting in Dallas and Rouge which resulted in the death of 8 officers.

Tierra Ruffin-Pratt, Mystics guard was the one responsible for supplying the team members with the BLM T-shirts. Talking to ThinkProgress, she gave a sad account of her cousin, who was killed by a cop hence she said, “So being part of the change is something that I want to do.” The Mystics happens to be the fourth WNBA team to stage a protest after a match in solidarity with the BLM movement. This comes about just a few days after three WNBA teams were fined by league authorities for violating uniform policies by wearing BLM branded shirts after a match.

“This is a human issue & we need to speak up for change, together.” -Maya pic.twitter.com/tyfl65Ag81

— Minnesota Lynx (@minnesotalynx) 9 July 2016

Mystics guard, Natasha Cloud said, “We definitely wanted to show our support for those teams that did get fined for wearing plain black Adidas shirts.” The WNBA players which constitute about 70% of African-Americans have expressed disappointment in the authority’s decision to be selective on this issue. They said the authorities gave them branded T-shirts which they gladly wore to express their concerns about the Orlando shooting and do not understand why they have been silent about the recent police brutality and yet try to stop them from honoring the victims in their own way.

In the WNBA league now, there is indignation over the fact that the athletes are not allowed to wear a T-shirt in public to show solidarity with the BLM movement. For many players, this is not a reason for a mere media show, but a deep personal pain, which they want to share with others.

After the public pressure and players’ disappointment WNBA decided to cancel imposed fines but it is still unclear whether players are allowed to wear BLM T-shirts in days to come or not.

They might try every means possible to silent Black people or stop them from expressing their opinion but it is futile effort. The protests have already dispersed across the country and are being spread more and more to announce the plight of the African-American and call for action.

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