'Melo plans meeting to address police violence
Carmelo Anthony plans to organize a meeting with community leaders, athletes and politicians in Los Angeles next week to discuss issues surrounding the recent shootings by and against police officers across the country.
“You have to keep the conversation going and dialogue going,” Anthony said Thursday at a Team USA workout in Las Vegas. “If you don’t, then you just become another tragedy that happens that everybody forgot about.”
Earlier this month, Anthony called on athletes to use their platforms to speak out on social issues in the wake of the shooting deaths of two African-American men and five Dallas police officers. He also addressed the issue with close friends LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Paul in a speech at the ESPYS.
Now, Anthony’s hoping to bring athletes, local politicians and other members of the Los Angeles community together for a discussion, which is scheduled for Monday.
“We want to get youth. We want to get kids. We want to get adults. We want to get officers. We want to get teachers. We want to get community leaders, athletes, everybody, having this conversation and talking on both sides, hearing each other out,” Anthony said. “It’s part of continuing what I started off.
“The problem is, people don’t have answers. I think everybody is searching for answers. People are searching for what to do and how to do it. We’re not going to find answers overnight. It’s not going to happen.”
Anthony’s advice to the participants?
“Be open-minded from both sides and all fronts, whether you’re a police officer, a mailman, trashman, homeless, whoever you are. I just think it’s about being aware and open-minded,” he said.
To that end, he plans to keep the meeting closed to the media so that those involved feel comfortable speaking honestly. Anthony has acknowledged he doesn’t have answers to the issues surrounding policing and race relations in the country.
But he hopes that events such as the scheduled discussion in Los Angeles can keep the conversation going.
“What I’m doing now is trying to lay the foundation down and just trying to take advantage of this platform that we have,” he said. “Hopefully everybody in their own individual rights branch out and start doing things on their own.”
He also reiterated that he isn’t concerned over any negative reaction he may encounter for speaking out on a volatile issue.
“I don’t think nobody can tell me that at this point,” he said when asked if anyone has told him not to organize the meeting. “I won’t listen to anybody that tells me I shouldn’t do this or shouldn’t do that.”
Information from ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne was used in this report.
