Black voters are key for James
New group will push for minority rights at polls
WASHINGTON — NBA superstar LeBron James and a group of other prominent black athletes and entertainers are starting a new group aimed at protecting African Americans’ voting rights, seizing on the widespread fury against racial injustice that has fueled worldwide protests to amplify their voices in this fall’s presidential 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. “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.”
The organization, called More Than a Vote, will partly be aimed at inspiring African Americans to register and to cast a ballot in November. But as the name of the group suggests, James and other current and former basketball stars — including Trae Young, Skylar Diggins-Smith and Jalen Rose — will go well beyond traditional celebrity get-outthe-vote efforts.
James, 35, said he would use his highprofile platform on social media to combat voter suppression and would be vocal about drawing attention to any attempts to restrict the franchise of racial minorities.
“Yes, we want you to go out and vote, but we’re also going to give you the tutorial,” 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 new organization represents James’ most significant foray yet into electoral politics.
Until now, his political involvement has mostly been limited to speaking out on social media and appearing at a single
“We feel like we’re finally getting a foot in the door.”
— LeBron James
rally late in Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign.
The recent death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police, however, helped convince James that he needed “to get out and do a little bit more.”
Jocelyn Benson, Michigan secretary of state, said that “trusted voices” like James’ could help break through the din at a moment of rising skepticism toward the news media and both political parties.
“What we’re seeing in Michigan is, there’s a heightened need to inform citizens how to vote in this coronavirus era,” said Benson, a Democrat who is helping advise the group. “We’ve got to go beyond registering people to vote and talking about the importance of voting to actively combating voter suppression.”
For James and the other organizers, part of their motivation is to combat apathy among black voters. Older African Americans are historically reliable voters, but in 2016 there was a drop-off with younger black voters, particularly men.
“We’re not letting that happen again,” said Rose, who called Floyd’s death perhaps the most galvanizing killing since the lynching of Emmett Till.
Young, a 21-year-old breakout star with the Atlanta Hawks, said he was hoping to be a “role model for my generation.”
“If people my age see that I’m going out and I’m voting and I’m talking,” he said, “maybe the next 21-year-old will.”
It is James, though, who has the loudest megaphone. His social media following is unequaled among American athletes: He has more than 136 million followers among his Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts (a little more than 137 million people voted in the 2016 presidential election).
Now, he said, it’s time for his admirers to do their part.
“There’s a lot of people that want change in the black community,” James said, but he added, “If you actually don’t put in the work or if you don’t have the mindset, there’s never going to be change.”
As for his own plans this fall, he said he had not yet talked to Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, but he did not rule out appearing on the campaign trail.
“We’ll see if we can help a candidate here and there,” James said.