Davis-Allen supplying strong voice about race
Isaiah Davis-Allen rolled into Annapolis on a sleek black-and-silver Harley Davidson motorcycle to play lacrosse in a very different climate than in any year before.
These last few months have served as a catalyst for Davis-Allen, a short-stick defensive midfielder for the Chesapeake Bayhawks affectionally dubbed “IDA” and one of only four Black players in Major League Lacrosse, sometimes known as the “MLL Four.”
The killing of George Floyd, an unarmed 46-year-old black man, by Minneapolis police on May 25 sparked countless and ongoing protests across the nation and world, coupled by other instances of police brutality or killings, such as in the deaths of Breonna Taylor and Elijah McClain. In that time, numerous athletes spoke out against racism.
And in the last few days, as professional lacrosse returned for just a week in Annapolis, Davis-Allen felt the same urge to spring to action and call attention to issues in the game he loves.
“In some aspects, I feel empowered,” he said. “This is a great time to get some movement. At the same time, it’s nerves, a little bit scared. Especially in the realm of sports and the sport that I’m in, it might not be the most popular viewpoint.
“We don’t have a lot of people of color. It was a mix of that, but I definitely wanted to make sure I was part of the movement. I wanted to make sure I used my platform for the views that I think are right.”
In a sport dominated by white players, the path to a platform is more vulnerable. Compared to other major men’s sports leagues — basketball, football, baseball and hockey — MLL is one of the least diverse as just 2.7% of players are Black.
As Davis-Allen stood at the faceoff X as the national anthem played at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium throughout the weeklong MLL Tournament, he only ever stood with one other Black player at a time — Chad Toliver (Philadelphia Barrage), Kris Alleyne (Connecticut Hammerheads) and Mark Ellis (New York Lizards).
But when Davis-Allen stood up before his Bayhawks team to speak before the start of the tournament, he was anything but alone.
Davis-Allen gave a brief speech before his teammates on the Black Lives Matter movement and explained what he and the other Black players would be doing at midfield during the national anthem. He told them they didn’t have to join him. Chesapeake coach Tom Mariano said they replied that they had his back.
Much of the activism athletes have done in the last few months have come through social media, where athletes could spread their voices to the masses. Davis-Allen hardly touches his Twitter account. That’s not where he does his work.
“The demographic that plays lacrosse doesn’t have to deal with African Americans on a daily basis. … A lot of times, something will be said or something will be done that no one knows any better,” Davis-Allen said. “I came to realize that I wasn’t educating anyone about issues like that. That’s where I’ve done my job trying to make a stand.”
He did the same on a broader scale.
In the initial days and weeks following Floyd’s killing, practically every league and team under the sun posted some message of support for the Black Lives Matter movement. NASCAR underwent a cultural evolution as it banned the use of Confederate flags.
That flow of voices frustrated Davis-Allen because, when he turned an ear to MLL and men’s lacrosse, it was silent.
“[The other leagues are] backing their players and we’re not necessarily doing that in our sport across the board,” Davis-Allen said. “From my perspective, the league can’t change something that they don’t know. We brought it up and it got addressed.
“From that perspective, I give praise to the league, specifically mine, the MLL, for addressing the fact that they didn’t address it.”
MLL posted Commissioner Alexander “Sandy” Brown’s statement on Twitter on June 1. Davis-Allen said he’d since received an email from the commissioner in which Brown stated he was willing to support his players.
The spotlight on MLL has shifted away after Sunday’s title game, but Davis-Allen and the other Black players have had conversations with the league to ensure that when attention moves, the work continues.
The four players hope to sit down with MLL ownership to ensure their message is amplified, to inform the league about players’ expectations and discuss what outreach programs the league can participate in, fund and market.
“We can serve it up on a silver platter,” Davis-Allen said. “We have guys that do outreach to all of these areas. The MLL just never really backed it or put light on it.
“That’s all we’re really asking them to do: to take into account the fact that we players from all over the country and do a lot of outreach already.”