IPL 2020: ‘Haven’t had one conversation about BLM’ – Jason Holder sad that ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement is not a part of IPL


IPL 2020: ‘Haven’t had one conversation about BLM’ – Jason Holder sad that ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement is not a part of IPL
Jason Holder

West Indies captain and Sunrisers Hyderabad player Jason Holder has expressed sadness and disappointment over the fact that in the Indian Premier League, ‘taking a knee’ in solidarity with the ‘Black Lives Matter‘ movement has been ignored. Holder made the statement while receiving the Peter Smith Award on behalf of his national team in an online program organized by Cricket Writers’ Club. The Peter Smith Award is an annual honor which recognizes outstanding contribution to the presentation of cricket to the public.

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The “taking a knee” gesture started in the West Indies’ Test series in England this summer in support of protests against racism after an American man named George Floyd was killed by a police officer in the USA. But the practice was later discontinued for the subsequent series against Pakistan and Australia.

‘It’s not an overnight fix’ – Holder

Jason Holder

Speaking after receiving the award, “To be honest, I haven’t had one conversation up here around it (BLM). Sometimes it seems it has gone unnoticed, which is a sad thing. I guess it’s for us to re-highlight the importance of it, for people to understand what is happening in the world,” Holder said in his address posted on Cricket West Indies website.

“COVID-19 has obviously caused a lot of attention around it, there’s suddenly a lot of attention on the elections in America as well, too. But for us, particularly as black people in the Caribbean, a black-dominant society, it’s for us to continue the education.

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“Cricket West Indies has done an excellent job in continuing awareness of it. The women had a series in England where they wore the Black Lives Matter logo and continued to push the movement as well,” he added.

“I personally was a bit disappointed to see how the Pakistan and Australia tours went on after us and they’re not showing their solidarity. But it’s a long debate, a long hard challenge, a long road. We as people need to continue to come together, put our minds together and genuinely find ways to fix the inequalities in the world,” Holder said.

“It’s not an overnight fix. This is something that is going to be ongoing for maybe a number of years. But I think the most important thing is that we need to come together, we need to see each other as all equal human beings and treat each other that way, and be your brother’s keeper in this world,” he signed off.

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