In the midst of what’s been a racially charged year not just in Boston athletics, but athletics across the United States, Boston’s five major sports teams have come together to devise a plan to prevent future instances of racism.
Members of the Boston Red Sox, Boston Celtics, Boston Bruins, New England Patriots and New England Revolution joined members of the community for an event at Fenway Park on Thursday to have an open discussion on racism, as well as debut, Take The Lead, an initiative to fight racism and hate speech. During the the event, the group debuted the first public service announcement for the project, which features members of all five teams and will be played at each team’s respective venue going forward.
Watch the “Take The Lead” PSA in the tweet below:
And here’s a shot of the event, which was emceed by Roxbury Presbyterian Church’s Rev. Liz Walker and moderated by WBZ-TV broadcaster Steve Burton:
Red Sox principal owner John Henry shared a statement on what Take The Lead is all about.
At one point during Thursday’s event, Boston mayor Marty Walsh spoke about the role of sports in the conversation about racism.
“The power of sports is bringing a lot of conversation to the United States of America right now,” Walsh said, via WBZ-TV. “The conversation isn’t just about an incident that happened at Fenway Park, it’s about what’s happening in our city every single day.”
Notable speakers at the event included former Sox outfielder Tommy Harper, former Bruins center Bob Sweeny, Former Celtics forward Cedric Maxwell and former Patriots linebacker Andre Tippett.
