Black MLB players release video: Be the Change

George Floyd was killed by the Minneapolis Police Department on May 25, 2020 when an officer, Derek Chauvin, kneeled on his neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds. Floyd’s death sparked nationwide protests against police brutality, which have sparked change in some areas of the country.

Shortly after the protests began, Black NFL players teamed up to create a video affirming that Black Lives Matter and asking the NFL to take a stronger stance against systemic racism. It worked, as commissioner Roger Goodell released a video of his own, admitting the league was wrong for trying to silence Colin Kaepernick. The league has since encouraged peaceful protest and Goodell encouraged teams to sign Kaepernick.

Black MLB players took their cue from NFL players, releasing a video of their own.

The video features Aaron Judge, CC Sabathia, Prince Fielder, and Howie Kendrick, among many others. They collectively say:

We’ve been told that our peaceful pleas were not made at the right time, at the right place, in the right way. We’ve been told to wait. But we remember when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. warned us that the word “wait” has almost always meant “never.” We will wait no longer. We will make our voices louder for all of us who can and for all of those who could not. Eight minutes and 46 seconds is enough time to lift a knee, to do what is right, to say something, to acknowledge the pain of the Black community. You have cheered for us but we need you to cheer with us now, when we need you most. Black Lives Matter. It’s our cheer for change. It’s your cheer for us. It’s these cheers that will unite us. One team, one dream, be the change.

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