WNBA Players Continue To Protest, Stage Media Blackout

After getting fined for wearing clothing that expressed support for Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, Black Lives Matter, and the slain Dallas police officers, the two teams look to continue to voice their opinions on the subject. After the New York Liberty played a game against the Indiana Fever yesterday (July 21), both teams decided to stage a media blackout after the game.

How the blackout worked was when media members entered the Liberty locker room, the team addressed reporters as a unit instead of individually. They informed them that no one would be answering any basketball questions, but would be happy to talk about the issues they’ve been protesting. Star players Tina Charles, Tanisha Wright, and Swin Cash spoke on behalf of the team, and presented a serious explanation of their actions.

“We feel like America has a problem with the police brutality that’s going on with black lives around here, and we just want to use our voices and use our platform to advocate for that,” said Wright. “Just because someone says ‘Black Lives Matter’ doesn’t mean that other lives don’t matter. People put out this imaginary ‘black lives only matter’ whenever people say, ‘Black lives matter.’ What we’re saying is, ‘Black lives matter, too.’ Period.”

“We really would appreciate if people stopped making our support of Black Lives Matter, an issue that is so critical in our society right now, as us not supporting the police,” added Cash. “There’s a lot of women in this room right now, in the WNBA, who have family members who are in law enforcement… People need to understand that it’s not mutually exclusive. You can support both things.”

You can watch the full video of their statements here: