Shut Up and Dribble?Creek Basketball says ‘No thanks’BY RAEGAN KNOBBESports Editor“There comes a time when silence is betrayal”-Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.Arden Walker (left) and Julian HammondPHOTO BY RAEGAN KNOBBE16 | Sports
In 2018, conservative pundit Laura Ingraham told NBA superstarLebron James to “shut up and dribble.” James refused to shutup about racial injustice, and you can be sure senior basketballplayers Arden Walker and Julian Hammond will also have somethingto say.Arden Walker, varsity football’s highly-recruited defensivetackle, is also the starting power forward for the Bruins basketballteam. Julian Hammond, the accomplished starting quarterbackand starting shooting guard, has recently committed to play basketballat the University of Colorado.These high-profile athletes are taking cues from stars like LebronJames and planning to use their platforms to promote changein the Creek community.“In the Black community we look up to [Lebron James], and forhim to speak out on racial injusticein America, that’s powerful,”Walker said. “We look for himto do it because there are a lot ofathletes that don’t do it.”Colin Kaepernick begankneeling during the nationalanthem at NFL games to protestpolice brutality and racial injusticein 2016. Senior AmandaAmpiah, President of the BlackStudent Union, remembers thismoment.“It’s important to speak aboutracial injustice because it couldhappen to me or my familymembers,” Ampiah said. “That’swhy it hugely impacted me, andhim raising awareness about thewhole situation is spotlightingor highlighting things that gounnoticed in this country.”Hammond also remembersKaepernick kneeling, and heagrees that athletes should fightfor what they believe in becauseyou never know who you mightinfluence to create change.“There’s no reason why anybody- [no matter] how big orhow small the stage is - shouldn’tbe able to stand up for what theywant to stand up for,” Hammondsaid.People who disagreed with Kaepernick kneeling argued thatathletes should “stick to sports,” but that comment strikes Walkerand other athletes as ignorant.“We’re human too,” Walker said. “That’s the reason why peoplelike Lebron are speaking out - because we’re humans, we’re includedin this situation. The people who say [“stick to sports”] - it’s anignorant statement to me because they basically labeled me as justan athlete, and we’re more than just athletes.”Varsity Boys Basketball Head Coach Kent Dertinger wants tohelp his athletes keep racial justice issues and the Black Lives Mattermovement in the forefront of people’s minds.“I know it’s something that my coaching staff and my playershave talked a lot about,” Dertinger said. “Our goal is to be there to“When one partof the communityis needing morehealing thanother parts, that’sthe one you wantto attend to.”-Julian Hammondsupport our players, our community, and a cause that we believein.”But Black Lives Matter is not the only movement in America.All Lives Matter and Blue Lives Matter also have many supporters.Hammond is frustrated with these two movements because hewants people to understand what it really means to support BlackLives Matter.“You can’t argue something that you would never have to dealwith,” Hammond said. “Of course every life matters, but whenone part of the community is needing more healing than otherparts, that’s the one you want to attend to, so to me it feels like it’sa counter way of saying ‘oh you guys are focusing in on you.’ Andwith Blue Lives Matter, you shouldn’t be killing cops, that’s an obviousthing, but I feel like it’s just to say something in response to goagainst Black Lives Matter.”There is still uncertainty aboutthe 2020 basketball season dueto the COVID-19 pandemic, butwhat we know for sure is thatWalker and Hammond will bedoing something to protest racialinjustice.“During the national anthemwe can all lock arms, both teams,to show unity,” Walker said.“We’re showing that there’s nodivision. We’re all together.”Hammond added that he is“not going to stand for the nationalanthem.”The two athletes have the supportof Athletic Director JasonWilkins.“I think it’s been really goodfor athletes in general to use theirplatform and to speak out aboutracial injustice,” Wilkins said.“There’s been a lot of solidaritythat’s come about. That has beena real positive.”The Varsity boys basketballteam also wants to make warmupshirts that say Black LivesMatter or another phrase thatshows solidarity. Walker wasthinking about adorning thewarm-up shirt with the nameElijah McClain, the 23-year-oldBlack man who was stopped by three police officers in Aurora in2019, put in a chokehold, and declared brain dead three days later.He was “a part of our community,” Walker said.But no matter what the warm-up shirts end up saying, the endgoal is the same: to keep Creek talking about racial injustice and toimprove the community.“By the time that we are able to play the game, I hope it sendsa message to the people at Cherry Creek because there’s probablysome people who are ignorant to this idea, or they have a differentbelief,” Walker said. “But I feel like my voice, and my other teammates’,is powerful enough to create a movement or change.”October 2020
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