Some WNBA players celebrated Wednesday after Democrat Raphael Warnock was projected to defeat sitting Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler in a critical Senate by-election in Georgia. WNBA players have campaigned for Warnock after Loeffler, co-owner of WNBA team Atlanta Dream, criticized the league’s support for the Black Lives Matter movement.
‘Wake up and just smile and remember that Kelly Loeffler once tried to come for the W, and we helped @ReverendWarnock takes her Senate seat, “New York Liberty player Layshia Clarendon tweeted Wednesday.” Winning has never felt so damn good. “
“Not only is Raphael Warnock becoming Georgia’s first black senator, but also the first black democratic senator ever elected in the south,” he wrote. Phoenix Mercury forward Brianna Turner. “50 years ago it was unimaginable. I wonder where the south will be 50 years from today.”
The WNBA and the Atlanta Dream made headlines with their league-wide support of Black Lives Matter during the summer with BLM warm-ups and jerseys, a statement that Loeffler turned down in June and asked Cathy Engelbert, WNBA commissioner to end.
In a statement that executed the protest in August, Loeffler called the players’ shirts a sign of cancellation culture. “It’s just another proof that culture out of control cancels out the desire to shut down anyone who disagrees with them,” she said. “Obviously the league is more concerned with politics than basketball, and I stand by what I wrote in June.”
In response, the Atlanta Dream and other high-ranking members of the WNBA endorsed Reverend Warnock and went so far as to wear ‘Vote Warnock’ shirts during their games.
Elizabeth Elizabeth’s dream forward Elizabeth Williams told The New York Times that the idea came from the shirts of WNBA Seattle Storm legend Sue Bird. Bird, who shared a photo of herself in the Warnock t-shirt on Wednesday, told Deadspin last month that the players preferred not to attack Loeffler and instead support Warnock.
“We found this voice we have together to be pretty powerful,” Bird told the sports department. “The size of our league allows it, we have about 144 players in the league, but we had to go through our careers to fight for things … So we developed this backbone and we learned to fight for ourselves. And now we are lending the fight to others. ‘
The Times also reported that the idea was discussed and approved by Stacey Abrams, who holds an advisory position on the WNBA Players Association’s board. Just two days after players wore the shirts, the campaign raised more than $ 185,000 online, added 3,500 grassroots donors and expanded Warnock’s Twitter account with nearly 3,500 followers, a campaign official told CBS News said.
Players maintained their activism in the ensuing months, acting as ballot box workers and cause a light on racial justice in the months before election day. Dream player Renee Montgomery last season completely chose to fight for social justice reform and advocacy for voters in Georgia. Some Dream players told a Advertisement “More than one voice” Released Monday asking people to vote in the run-off matches in Georgia. In the video, Williams appealed to her followers to vote for Warnock and Jon Ossoff, the other Democrat, for a Senate seat.
Warnock is the first black senator in Georgia’s history. From the poll’s data, he shows that he got 92% of the black vote in the state.
“We were told we could not win this election,” Warnock said as he addressed their supporters on Wednesday. “But tonight we have his proof with hope, hard work and the people to us, anything is possible. May my story be an inspiration to some young person trying to grasp and grasp the American dream.”
While the WNBA protest also demanded that Loeffler be removed, neither she nor co-owner Mary Brock said the Dream was for sale. However, Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James puts his hat in the ring as a potential buyer, proposal on Twitter that he wants to form an “ownership group” to buy the team. James, who leads more than one vote, also said he was “proud” of what he saw of Georgia voters Tuesday.
“I’m proud of my people because they got out there and did what they do best,” James said. told reporters. “And it is heard and seen and powerful and engaged.”