2014 was filled with superstar athletes speaking out on major social issues. From LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, and Derrick Rose wearing the “I Can’t Breathe” shirts, to the St. Louis Rams “hands up” gesture to acknowledge the events in Ferguson, athletes are taking on a stronger presence than just being athletes, but are now being advocates. In the past, there, of course, have been many activist athletes, but none have been as strong as this current presence, largely in part thanks to the reach social media.
To drive home the point that social media has become a powerful platform, here’s a few tweets to show you just what kind of reach these messages are making on society.
Taking a look first at the “I Can’t Breathe” shirts worn by major NBA superstars, Derrick Rose comments on why he chose to wear the shirt saying, “I’m a parent now. Probably two years ago, it probably would have been different. I probably would not have worn the shirt. But now I’m a dad, it just changed my outlook on life, period. I don’t want my son growing up being scared of the police or even having that thought on his mind that something like that could happen.”
Although he did not personally use social media to publicize his thoughts, Sports Illustrated, who has a following of almost 1 million, were able to share Rose supporting this issue.
Derrick Rose wore a t-shirt that said ‘I Can’t Breathe’ during warmups tonight http://t.co/G5Uee7h5yj pic.twitter.com/uIOkcN1yWo
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) December 7, 2014
If you don’t follow the major media outlets or the athletes themselves, another powerful social media route is through sports journalists. Below, Rachel Nichols, shows how the NFL took action on the St. Louis Rams “hands up” gesture. This tweet, which could be viewed by Nicols’ almost 650,000 followers, shows a powerful statement to the National Football League’s Vice President of Communications. Although the action, itself, may have been drastic by the St. Louis Rams players, it shows society that we cannot continuously apologize for actions that can be construed as controversial, but, rather, we must stand together to fight against these racial issues.
St Louis Police Assoc asked the NFL to discipline Rams players for their “hands up” gesture. The NFL says they won’t. pic.twitter.com/mnHXINy4El — Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) December 1, 2014
Finally, in the image below, LeBron James Instagrammed about how society must do better, challenging that it it is no one person’s job to create social change, but, rather, everyone must do better. This photograph was liked over 291,000 times and was seen by a majority of 8.2 million followers on Instagram, or 18 million followers on Twitter, where he linked the photo as well. As far as athletes go, LeBron James has the third largest following, in terms of American athletes on social media.
As we have the majority of a New Year ahead of us, social media’s ubiquitous presence is not going anywhere, and will continue to play a key role in the national narrative. With superstar athletes like these rallying behind racial injustice, we can only hope that society, like social media, will continue to grow as well.