Since the murder of Jayland Walker at the hands of the Akron Police Department the community has come together in their pain and thein anger. I've been out with the protesters since day one and I've noticed one consistent complaint, a voice is missing. Lebron James has been outspoken in the past about Policing issues in this country. When George Floyd was murdered in 2020 Lebron was one of the loudest celebrities to voice their anger. What has happened in the last two years?
Obviously Lebron caught a lot of backlash over his comments, but that didn't seem to bother him as he doubled down on his anger. He made several post on his different social media accounts and famously wore an "I can't breathe" shirt during warm ups. When Jayland Walker was murdered almost two weeks ago a lot of people waited to see Lebron stand up for the 25 year old man who had over 60 bullets put into him by police. Nothing. Once the video was released many protesters I was around in Downtown Akron knew that Lebron would speak out now, how couldn't he? A nation just watched an unarmed black man executed in his own city. One tweet was made, it didn't call for justice, it wasn't filled with anger, it lacked any detail on how Lebron was feeling.
It was simply and emoji and a promise of prayers for Akron. Why is Lebron so quiet? Is it because of the varies projects he has going on in Akron? Is he afraid to criticize the people in power for fear of losing support? Does he feel the police were justified? Thoughts and prayers have long been a copout for groups like the NRA and the GOP when mass shootings happen in this country, is Lebron just playing it safe in a PR move?
Obviously we can not rely on celebrities to be the voice of our community, and the people of Akron have done well rising up together and being their own voice, but it is a stinging blow to the people that have supported Lebron to be feel that they are left in their anger alone. Do we need Lebron and his voice? No. Do we want Lebron and his voice? Absolutely.
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