Following the police shooting of unarmed Black man, Jacob Blake, the WNBA’s Washington Mystics team took to the court wearing white T-shirts printed with seven bullet holes in his honor.
Blake was shot in the back by a white police officer on Aug. 23 as he walked towards his vehicle. Officer Rusten Sheskey fired at almost point-blank range into Blake’s back as he opened his own SUV’s driver-side door and leaned into the vehicle.
The incident was captured on video and posted online and sparked protests across the country.
The WNBA stood in solidarity with “our brothers in the NBA,” who also protested the shooting. Players from the six teams scheduled to take the court in locked arms and kneeled while wearing shirts spelling out Blake’s name.
Atkins told CNN that the T-shirts might have been “a little vulgar to some people,” but that she and her teammates had been determined “to give a very visual image” of what had happened to Blake.
“It’s tough because people are constantly telling us you have no right to speak. It’s like, what? I have no right to speak because I play a game? How does that even make sense?” Atkins continued. “I’m a human first. I’m going to speak out on the things that I feel are wrong in this world. There might be some sacrifices as far as money, as far as fans, as far as sponsorships and different things.
“But, at the end of the day, you want people that represent you and represent what you believe in to be working with you.”
