Longtime Los Angeles Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw has done just as much off the field as he’s done on it throughout the course of his career. He is present in the local community as well as for children and families in need in Africa through his Kershaw’s Challenge foundation.
As athletes and celebrities joining together in recent weeks to fight against racial injustice and police brutality, Kershaw had remained relatively quiet. That changed this past week when he put out a powerful statement in support of the Juneteenth holiday and Black Lives Matter cause.
Teammates David Price, Kenley Jansen and Walker Buehler all expressed their appreciation of Kershaw’s statement, in which he promised to not only talk about the issues plaguing the country, but also to take action.
In an interview with LZ Granderson of the L.A. Times, Kershaw revealed that he spoke with some of his Black teammates and coaches before putting out the statement and it was their message that has inspired him to be more vocal:
“My whole career, I haven’t been very vocal on different issues because I didn’t feel that social media was the right platform,” he said in a Friday morning interview with The Times. “Words can only do so much. You really need to be action-based. But I spoke with my Black teammates and my Black coaches and they basically told me, ‘Your silence is speaking volumes right now.’ That really hit me.”
“To be a white person and not say anything, I really felt like more and more that I was a part of the problem. I felt like I needed to say something, to speak out. It’s still just words, so I will follow that up with action.”
With Kershaw, his teammates and the Dodgers organization all committed to the cause, they can help inspire and create big change in the local community in the coming months.
As the organization that paved the way for Jackie Robinson to break baseball’s color barrier, it is good to see the Dodgers are continuing to be leaders in the country on social issues and their players are following suit.
Justin and Kourtney Turner also pledged their support for needed change and vowed to take action upon learning how they could best do so.
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