LeBron James has put his money where his mouth is. The perennial All-Star and magnate is coming off a week where his and the efforts of his close friends and business associates were undermined when they were referred to as a “posse.” LeBron addressed the media to expound upon the potentially negative connotations of such a word when used to describe an assemblage of African American men who essentially came from nothing and have since become leaders and role models in their respective fields.
On Monday, that leadership took shape in the form of a $2.5 Million donation pledge to the Smithsonian’s newly erected National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC), on behalf of the LeBron James Family Foundation and Maverick Carter. The donation was provided to support a display celebrating the legacy of Muhammad Ali.
In the presentation, not only is Ali’s athletic career honored but additional light is also shone on his work as a humanitarian and activist. LeBron’s support comes as no surprise when you take into consideration his outspokenness on widespread and national societal issues and his being a proponent of doing his best to create and foster a better world through his efforts on and off the court.
NMAAHC’s curator of the Sports Gallery, Damion Thomas, had this to say about LeBron; “We are extremely grateful to LeBron James for his support of the museum. As the most socially active superstar in sports today, LeBron James is a testament to the influence of Muhammad Ali. Ali embodied the racial and social tumult of his times, blurring lines between politics and sports, activism and entertainment.”
