On Friday, June 19th, in celebration of Juneteenth, Bradley Beal joined fellow players from the Washington Wizards as well as players from the Washington Mystics in a show of unity and marched the streets of Washington D.C. in protest of police brutality.

Alongside Brad for the #TogetherWeStand protest were his fiancee Kamiah Adams as well as fellow Wizards star John Wall, rookie Rui Hamichura, Mystics star Natasha Cloud and many many others from both Washington pro basketball organizations

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The group marched from their meeting point at 6th & G Street to the front of Capital One Arena.

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Once there, they held a rally where, among others, Brad spoke up.

“They say Juneteenth is a day of celebration of freedom, a day of reflection upon the struggle that was endured,” Brad said to the crowd. “Last night, I had a little bit of time to reflect. The question that dawned on me is ‘what is freedom?’ By definition, it is the ability to act and speak whenever you want, (about) whatever you want without any restraint. But another question I ask myself is ‘how can the black community feel free in a world where racism and discrimination and prejudice are normalized and condoned, where these things are taught and passed down generation to generation, encouraged and oftentimes celebrated? How does the black community grow when lives are taken from them without justice and without any consequences?’”

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Brad also spoke about the racial injustices he’s experienced first-hand, referencing a story from two years ago when he was pulled over in D.C. and threatened by a police officer. His all too familiar story went viral across social media, encouraging others to share their similar stories.

Furthermore, Brad expressed a need for a continued commitment to ending systemic racism and doing so through unity, not division.

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