Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: “Riots are the voices of people who have no voice”

“These are people who now have no other voice,” Kareem Abdul-Jabbar said CNN.

“They don’t get the political power or financial power to change circumstances, so what will they do? The riots are the voices of people who don’t have a voice. That’s how they announced their presence.

“I only remember seeing a sign that someone was staying in Minneapolis that said, ‘Can you hear us now?’ I think that’s a very insulting statement. “

Protesters filled streets across the country to protest police brutality and death George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer.
The former Milwaukee Buck and LA Laker interview for CNN followed an election he wrote for Los Angeles Times May 30 explaining that “even though we do all the conventional things to raise public and political awareness … the needle barely burps.”

Although Abdul-Jabbar says it is not a problem for most police forces, “something needs to change” with the way African Americans treat a minority of police officers.

“There have always been white Americans who understand that what they see is criminal and wrong and people can’t live with that, but there has been no change.

“There’s no way we can get rid of bad cops. We don’t want to get rid of the fantastic men and women attacking our streets. We don’t want to get rid of them, but there are some bad cops among them, and we need to find an effective way to get rid of them who don’t threatening other police officers, 99% of them who do such a wonderful job day in and day out, and many times not working thanked for it. “

“Necessary but frustrating”

Meanwhile, San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich – a vocal and longtime critic of U.S. President Trump – says the lack of leadership by U.S. President is “incredible.”

Aside from criticizing President Trump, Popovich has never been shy about racism or police brutality.

While Popovic called the protests “necessary”, their organization angered the 71-year-old coach.

“When Dr. King protested, you knew when to show up, when to come back the next day,” the five-time NBA champion said in interview with ‘Nation.’

“But if you just organize protests and everyone comes and goes in every direction, it doesn’t go that way.

“If there was nonviolence, they used to be nonviolent, but this is confusing. More leadership would be very welcome, so these amazing mass demonstrations people can’t use in other ways. We can limit the bad, but only if things are better organized.”

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