NBA’s LeBron James, Trae Young And Others Have A Bold Plan To Save The 2020 Election

NBA superstar LeBron James is joining forces with other Black athletes and celebrities to launch a new initiative focused on registering and supporting Black voters in the 2020 election. Its success may not only get out the vote, but also launch a new generation of athlete activists that could help save the 2020 election.

The initiative is called More Than A Vote, and it focuses on supporting the registration and turnout of Black voters in the upcoming national election. But as the name indicates, the organization will also focus on educating voters about how to vote and how to respond to efforts of voter suppression. In an interview with The New York Times, James framed the organization’s key focus.

“Yes, we want you to go out and vote, but we’re also going to give you the tutorial,” Mr. James said. “We’re going to give you the background of how to vote and what they’re trying to do, the other side, to stop you from voting.”

The 35 year old NBA player isn’t starting the initiative alone. He is joined by fellow NBA All-Star Trae Young, WNBA All-Star Skylar Diggins-Smith, and former NBA player and current ESPN Analyst Jalen Rose. The group also plans to enlist other athletes and entertainers to join the initiative and leverage their passion and social media influence for good. The goal is to energize black voters to not only follow celebrity lead, but also to encourage voters to step up and make their voices heard in the upcoming election.

“Because of everything that’s going on, people are finally starting to listen to us — we feel like we’re finally getting a foot in the door,” James said in a phone interview with The New York Times on Wednesday. “How long is up to us. We don’t know. But we feel like we’re getting some ears and some attention, and this is the time for us to finally make a difference.”

This initiative isn’t James’s first effort at leveraging his star power for social change. He has been a passionate ally for numerous causes, particularly in his hometown of Akron, Ohio, where he even started his own school. But this is James’s biggest step into the political arena and it couldn’t come at a more vital time.

As the United States heads towards what is expected to be a highly contentious November national election, there is growing concern about how prepared the nation and its voters are for what may be one of the most unusual elections in American history. With the coronavirus pandemic prompting many states to change their election rules to allow universal mail-in balloting, election officials are in a race against time to address one of the most potentially significant voting patterns shifts in decades. And unproven accusations by President Trump of possible voter fraud are also prompting voting rights advocates to worry about a surge of voter suppression tactics across the country.

They are right to be concerned. This past week’s troubled primary election in Georgia demonstrated there is still much work to be done to prepare the nation for the upcoming election. But beyond preparing voters to navigate the voting process, LeBron James and his partners might be helping lead an even bigger transformation – the energizing of athletes to step up their political activism in tangible ways.

The death of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man killed by four Minneapolis police officers,  along with the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery in south Georgia and Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky, sparked a massive outpouring of anger and protest at America’s woeful record of police violence and systemic racism. In the span of just weeks, the centuries-old conflicts of race, class, and equity have boiled over as the entire nation grapples with the way it speaks, acts, and enables racism in the United States. No aspect of American society and culture is untouched by the dramatic shift in national dialogue, and the sports world is at the center of the transformation. Last week, in response to appeals by its players, the NFL reversed course and apologized for past insensitivity regarding the protests of Black athletes. And just this week, at the encouragement of African American racer Bubba Wallace and others, racing giant NASCAR announced it is banning Confederate symbols at its races, and also reversed its ban on racer protests during the national anthem.

In the midst of all of this, a generation of digitally native athletes are finding that their voices online can be just as powerful as their athleticism, and that by expressing their opinions, they too can ignite social change. Their newly political voices might also resonate, and at a time when many Americans are frustrated by their political leaders, hearing more civic leadership from the sports arena might be a welcome change.

In launching his new initiative, LeBron James is translating his sports stardom into a new chapter of civic activism. But perhaps more than helping mobilizing voter turnout, the greatest legacy of his effort might be inspiring a new cadre of activist athletes to step up and follow his lead. In doing so, James might help a nation strengthen not only its election, but also its democracy.

And that would be more than a vote. It would be a victory.