The Alabama football team posted a video on social media (seen below) with a pointed message on racial injustice.
The 2-minute, 3-second clip shared on the team’s official Twitter, Facebook and Instagram pages featured a diverse group of players and Nick Saban reading an essay by Crimson Tide offensive lineman Alex Leatherwood.
“In this moment in history, we can’t be silent,” read the tweet that accompanied the video.
The idea came from a number of conversations in the past few weeks following the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The football program held video calls with prominent Black voices including Condoleezza Rice, Charles Barkley and Stephen A. Smith and their message was clear: use your platform for positive change.
The leadership group of veteran players and other star players filmed their parts on Wednesday, and it was edited for release early Thursday afternoon.
The message was one of unity, honoring the past and building a better future for race relations. It calls for equality and the end of brutality and ended with a simple message repeated by several players and appeared on the screen.
“All lives can’t matter until black lives matter,” it read.