The collaboration, inspired by the belief that Together We Are Basketball, aims to draw on the strength of our basketball communities to elevate black and BAME voices and share experiences, knowledge and ideas on how to move forward.
An day of activity of the Basketball England Instagram channel on Saturday 8 August will provide the platform for discussion.
Protests and civil rights marches following the death of George Floyd and other Black people at the hands of the police in America have taken place in all 50 US states and in 18 countries across the world, making Black Lives Matter the largest global human rights protest.
There has been inspiring collective solidarity in the face of institutionalised and systemic racism internationally. And while the UK has its own range of problems to address, the motive of this campaign is to listen, highlight concerns and understand how racism impacts our diverse basketball community.
We want to raise individuals’ voices within the game to show solidarity, raise awareness and urge people to speak out against inequality and all forms of racism.
We are all committed to taking real action.
“Basketball England has been listening to and supporting recent conversations around racism in society and within the game, consulting with numerous individuals and organisations and this joint work with Foot Fire and uNDERRATED, two respected organisations that are highly active within British Basketball culture, is another strand of that.
“Discussions have also led to more reflection and feedback about the part that everyone can play in promoting understanding, fairness and equality. It has been encouraging to see people taking personal responsibility to act and support the campaign to achieve equality for all. It is right at the heart of what our #TogetherWeAreBasketbALL hashtag stands for.
“BE is developing a plan to examine our own effectiveness in reflecting and serving the diverse basketball community and we are preparing a series of actions. We will share this soon.”
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Sophia Rooke, lead writer of uNDERRATED and owner of Blacktop, has written a letter to Secretary of State for Education Gavin Williamson about providing a more comprehensive programme on Black History in UK schools.
It is an open letter which members of the public can email to Mr Williamson individually to highlight the role reformed education policy could play in fighting racism.
The campaign will also provide a platform, through each of the participants’ social media channels, for people to come together from across the game to discuss their issues, share ideas, knowledge and resources and will culminate with a day-long takeover of the BE Instragram channel featuring live and recorded contributions on 8 August.
All the campaign participants will donate to and promote two charities of interest to the Black community.
Both the owners of Foot Fire and uNDERRATED are Basketball England ambassadors for the #AllGirls campaign and are involved in both youth and senior basketball activities.
About uNDERRATED https://www.underratedgb.com/
A sports media network focused on the promotion of young talented prospects in the junior pro level of basketball. Our brand is a motor for the cross culture and lifestyle that exists in British Basketball. We also offer basketball training and filming services including basketball camps, tournaments, games and training workout filming.
About Foot Fire https://www.footfire.co.uk/
A marketing, networking and events company that focuses on putting on basketball events and spotlighting affordable basketball footwear and apparel. Foot Fire is the number one basketball product information platform in Europe and has put on events across the country. Foot Fire has collaborated with brands such as Overtime, Pure Sweat, Starting 5, Nike, Adidas and on digital advertising, social media campaigns and events.
About Basketball England
The national governing body for basketball in England. Our vision is to create a sport that’s valued in every community and accessible in every school, college and university, and inspires the wider population to be engaged in the game.
More than ever we are engaging, listening and adapting to the needs of all communities in our great game, recognising that everyone has a voice and can influence the future.
Together we want to grow the game and bring out the inherent qualities and diverse appeal of basketball at all levels and roles in the game. We have a huge opportunity to promote equality and diversity more broadly as we create new opportunities leading up to the Commonwealth Games – Birmingham 2022.
#TogetherWeAreBasketbALL
