Bradley Beal grabbed a microphone and asked the crowd that joined the Washington Wizards and WNBA’s Washington Mystics on a march to collectively raise a fist into the air and join together in saying “Together we stand.”
Such was the sentiment across sports on Friday as many teams from the major U.S. pro leagues stopped to commemorate Juneteenth — the celebration of what occurred June 19, 1865, the day that enslaved black people in the United States learned they had been freed.
The day carried particular importance this year, with teams recognizing the day as important enough to declare it a paid holiday for workers — acknowledging the problems the country is facing after several weeks of protests demanding the elimination of police brutality and racial inequality.