UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya has used his voice to support the Black Lives Matter movement, following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
On Monday, the ‘Last Stylebender’ was seen marching in the streets of Auckland as over 3000 people gathered in his adopted hometown to call for justice after Derek Chauvin, a white police officer, killed Floyd last week by kneeling down on his neck.
“I have to speak up. I’ve been doing it for like the last two weeks. For the last two weeks on my stories, you’ll see I’ve been angry. I’m pissed off,” Adesanya said as he addressed racism and the police brutality towards black people.
“Wait, hold up. How many of you walk into a store and have to put your hands behind your back just so they don’t think you’re stealing?”
“How many of you walk down the street and have to kind of smile and try to make you see the person who already is scared of you, you make them feel comfortable?”
Israel Adesanya marched in the streets of Auckland on Monday, joining thousands in a Black Lives Matter protest. pic.twitter.com/O22ZNw9UpQ
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) June 1, 2020
Adesanya continued: “I just moved to a spot. I’m at the top. I go in the elevator, three times already I’ve had to have racist, sacred white people jump when they see me, so I smile at them. So now I gotta go to the side and let them walk through just so they don’t get scared when they see me.
“Why? Because I’m black. Just because I’m black. What did I do? I didn’t have a choice. If I had a choice, I’d still be black.”
UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya in Auckland demonstrating against the killing of George Floyd on June 1, 2020. (Photo by Michael Bradley/AFP via Getty Images) pic.twitter.com/faN1bOMb9p
— Mark La Monica (@LaMonicaMark) June 1, 2020
“We’ve been marching so long but it’s not about us now. Shout out to all the white people, people of different races, cause we need you. We need you to speak up. We need you to say something.
“I’m sick and tired of seeing those faces get killed cause guess what? I see myself in them the whole time. It’s heartbreaking. I’m pissed off.”
Watch the video below:
Israel Adesanya's powerful speech in Auckland, New Zealand during a Black Lives Matter protest.
(via @isoakavakimotu)pic.twitter.com/VjCj09YArg
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) June 1, 2020
(Featured Image Source: Twitter/ @isoakavakimotu)