LeBron James, Kevin Hart and a list of other celebrities signed a letter on Monday (Aug. 17) with More Than A Vote to fight Black voter suppression ahead of the November election.
“We saw you in the streets,” the letter, which was shared by The Undefeated, reads. “We saw your social media posts. Your voices are breaking through, but it’s now time to do more. We know you have the ability to organize. So join us and take your protest to the election and fight to keep our community from being silenced.
“The most important thing you all need to know is Black voters matter more than ever.”
James launched More Than A Vote back in June to combat Black voter suppression. The initiative is primarily focused on getting members of the Black community to the polls for the 2020 presidential election. The group, which includes Hart, Trae Young, Jalen Rose, Skylar Diggins-Smith and more, previously raised over $100,000 to pay off former felons’ court fees so that they’ll be able to vote in the upcoming election.
In the open letter, the group states that “one solution that More Than A Vote is working on is to convert as many arenas and sports facilities as possible into voting precincts.”
REVOLT previously reported that James teamed up with Los Angeles Dodgers to turn the Dodger Stadium into a polling site this fall. This is the first time a MLB team offered its facility as a voting center.
“This all came together during the protests against police brutality,” James said in a statement to the outlet. “All of us were angry, which we still are, and wanted to do something with real impact right now. We didn’t want to talk about it. We organized around voter suppression in our community because it’s very real and if we want actual change, it’s going to start by educating, energizing and protecting Black voters in 2020.”
Ray Allen, Odell Beckham Jr., Eric Bledsoe, Toni Braxton, Bun B, Draymond Green, Brittney Griner, Damian Lillard, Kyle Lowry, Renee Montgomery, Kendrick Perkins, Jalen Rose, Ben Simmons, Michael Vick and A’ja Wilson were among the many names who also signed the letter.