"Over the weekend, the basketball star Breanna Stewart didn't have her normal bounce during player introductions. As soon as the announcer shouted her name, Stewart walked out holding a white sign with a message: Abolish ICE. "I think that when human lives are at stake, it's bigger than anything else," Stewart said at a press conference following the game with Unrivaled, a three-on-three professional basketball league she co-founded in 2024."
"Doing so can be risky: The Trump administration has frequently attacked and mocked athletes who challenge the president, and many team owners are among Trump's backers. But it can be worthwhile. Historically, when athletes have chosen to speak out, their advocacy has helped effect real change. The often-cited example of how an athlete can shift the political discourse is the boxing icon Muhammad Ali's refusal to be drafted into the Army in 1967 during the Vietnam War."
Breanna Stewart visibly protested by holding a sign reading "Abolish ICE" during player introductions and said that human lives are at stake. Stewart's wife, Marta Xargay Casademont, was born in Spain and is in the United States on a green card, and the couple is pursuing American citizenship, which could be jeopardized by Stewart's public criticism of ICE. Athlete activism can provoke backlash from administrations and owners but has a history of producing political change, from Muhammad Ali's draft refusal to recent athlete involvement in protests, voter-registration campaigns, and electoral efforts.
Read at The Atlantic
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