In the wake of George Floyd’s death, LeBron James, along with other athletes, decided to form the “More Than a Vote” group in order to protect black community voting rights, per New York Times’ Jonathan Martin.
According to Forbes via the NY Times:
More Than A Vote will initially be funded by James and his business manager Maverick Carter, while ESPN commentator Jalen Rose as well as current basketball stars Trae Young and Skylar Diggins-Smith are also involved in the organization.
James told the New York Times he has talked to a number of athletes about the initiative and has gotten a commitment from comedian Kevin Hart.
The nonprofit will team up with voting rights groups to register black voters and James said he will use his large social media following to draw attention to efforts to suppress the vote of racial minorities, according to the New York Times.
James said the death of Floyd pushed him into considering more action, starting on Tuesday with a tweet about the disastrous Georgia primary election, saying, “They say “go out and vote?” What about asking if how we vote is also structurally racist?”
James decided to take advantage of his platform to touch upon social issues like racism and injustice, but hasn’t been involved in politics until this point.
With that in mind, James is trying to take advantage of the wide resources to “move the needle” and lend a “voice” in the political scene for the African American communities.
