November 29 2014; Ariyana Smith made the “hands up, don’t shoot” gesture at a university basketball game.

She lay on the court for four-and-a-half minutes to represent the four-and-a-half hours Michael Brown lay dead on the streets of Ferguson.

I heard about her through Dave Zirin at a Philosophy Football event a few weeks after and asked him if people would remember her 50 years on.

The truth is, people had forgotten her after 50 days. But what she stood for in that sports hall remains relevant today.

Philando Castile. 24 hours earlier Alton Sterling. Black men are still being shot by US police officers, regardless if they are unarmed. Regardless of whether they are resisting arrest. It is a shoot first, several times, and deal with the consequences later.

Smith made her voice heard and within days other athletes followed her lead.

St Louis Rams players, now Los Angeles Rams, walked out with their arms raised in one of the most powerful sporting images of my lifetime.

Former Chicago Bulls player Derrick Rose wore the infamous “I can’t breathe” T-shirt, bearing the last words of Eric Garner as he was choked to death. Countless others did the same over the next few nights.

Two years earlier, the Miami Heat posed in hoodies to protest at the killing of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman.
The senseless deaths of Castile, Sterling and the countless others this year have sparked protests around the world.

New York. London. Berlin. The public are making their voices heard and I believe that if major US sports were in season many athletes would add theirs too.

You only have to look at the players of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) and how they are using the platform they have to get the message to the public

The Minnesota Lynx players wore “#BlackLivesMatter” tops over the weekend.

New York Liberty wore black warm-up shirts that read on the front: “Change starts with us — Justice & Accountability.”

That will resonate so much more with the young people than Barack Obama giving a speech behind his big desk at the White House.

Especially as Castile died just a short drive from where the Lynx play, in the suburbs of St Paul.

Lynx team captain Maya Moore told reporters beforehand: “If we take this time to see that this is a human issue and speak out together, we can greatly decrease fear and create change.

“Tonight we will be wearing shirts to honor and mourn the losses of precious citizens and to plead for change in all of us.”

As for the Liberty, Swin Cash said to the press after their game: “My husband is 6'6", 220 [lbs]. If my husband gets pulled over, when you look at him, does he make you scared? Is something going to happen to him? Those are things that go on in my head.”

It hasn’t made the news in Britain as it’s “only” the WNBA. But that doesn’t make their message any less relevant.

As young(ish) man myself, I am more likely to listen to an athlete than a politician. Whether that is right or wrong is debatable.

However, as a black man, seeing black athletes protest against these horrific acts, I can’t help but pay attention. And I won’t be the only person.

It is why American Football player Isaiah Crowell was forced to apologise for posting a picture online of a police officer getting his throat slashed.

“Last week was an emotional and difficult week as we saw extreme acts of violence against black men across our country as well as against police officers in Dallas,” Crowell said.

“My values and beliefs do not match that image. I am outraged and upset by the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile along with so many others. I am also outraged and saddened by the attacks in Dallas and the deaths of the five honourable police officers who were providing protection while trying to keep peace. We have to be better as a society, it’s not about colour, it’s about what’s right and wrong.

“I was very wrong in posting that image. Every single life matters, every death as a result of violence should be treated with equal outrage and penalty.”

At a time when the relationship in the US between public and police is extremely volatile, images like that only make matters more fraught.

However, it is not just in the US that people pay particular attention to what athletes say. It happens in Britain as well.

More people would have listened to what David Beckham had to say when it came to the EU referendum than David Cameron.

The younger generation relates to Beckham. His opinion matters to them. If he says vote Remain, they will feel that must be a valid reason.

Let’s not forget, people cut their hair to look like Beckham. Ticking a box to think like him isn’t that far-fetched an idea.

When Rio Ferdinand did the same thing, young black people would have started to pay attention to what was going on.
It is a shame that it takes footballers to engage young people in politics.

But Ferdinand understands that young black people struggle to relate to white MPs. They don’t see themselves in, David Cameron, Jeremy Corbyn or Boris Johnson.

Not many will know who Clive Lewis is. Dianne Abbott has become more more prominant recently but I doubt many young people know who she is or what she stands for.

Kids get their opinions from celebrities, that is the way modern society works.

So in theUS, teenagers aren’t interested in Obama sitting behind his desk saying: “Black Lives Matter.” They aren’t watching the news to get their information.

They are looking at the LeBron Jameses, the Russell Wilsons, the Steph Currys. When they say “black lives matter,” you engage people who previously weren’t interested.

Last weekend was a big weekend in sport. We had the Wimbledon finals, Euro 2016 finals as well as the British Grand Prix.

I am not the biggest tennis or Formula One fan but I wanted Serena Williams and Lewis Hamilton to win.

For the black community, I felt it was imperative that they were seen in a positive light and could be used as beacons of hope at a time when ethnic minorities are struggling to be positive.

No, I am not trying to ignite racial hatred between black and white people.

However, waking up in the morning to see a video of a black man being shot to death by the people who are supposed to protect and serve is depressing.

Grime artist JME summed it up perfectly on Twitter: “Watched a man die on the internet before I went to bed, woke up and watched another man die before I [had] breakfast.”

That is extremely depressing. So for me, seeing Serena match Steffi Graf’s record and hearing her talk about what it meant to her was uplifting.

Serena is a source of black pride, to quote Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff from the Guardian. Seeing her raise her fist after defeating Angelique Kerber on Saturday was poignant image.

She knew the world would be watching, waiting for her to make her mark during another difficult week for black America.

Serena knows that people will view it as a homage to John Carlos’s black power salute at the 1968 Olympics and it is another feather in her cap as she continues to uplift the black community in the US.

It’s no coincidence that she was in Beyonce’s Lemonade video, the video which explored black womanhood.

It is no coincidence that Beyonce was in her family box at Wimbledon to watch Serena.

The tennis star is a supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement.

“To those of you involved in equality movements like Black Lives Matter, I say this: keep it up. Don’t let those trolls stop you. We’ve been through so much for so many centuries, and we shall overcome this too,” she said in a interview with Wired magazine last November.

That will stick in the minds of young black adults not only across the US but the world.

Serena knows what it is like to overcome being black in the United States, especially given she doesn’t look like the other tennis players.

Maybe that is why she has struggled to be respected for what she has achieved.

“I’m a black woman and I am in a sport that wasn’t really meant for black people,” she said.

Maybe that is why she has been belittled and questions have been asked as to whether she takes illegal substances to play at the dominant level she does.

Maria Sharapova has been caught doping and yet the spotlight still gets turned to Serena. How is that fair?

Look at how Serena is constantly having to defend the titles she has won, debates still being had about if she is actually any good or just really lucky.

I find that extremely insulting for someone who is still playing at the top level at the age of 34. Not just the top level, the best at what she does.

I’m not saying she is the best to ever play the sport. But her name is up there and to question that is unfair.

Martina Navratilova, Serena and Graf are the top three who can be placed in any order.

As for Hamilton, I wasn’t expecting him to do anything on the level Serena did 24 hours previously.

Hamilton stays away from these issues — which is a shame — he can also reach a significant amount of people if he were to speak out against what is going on in the US.

However, I wanted him to win due to the fact that the racist abuse he still receives is disgusting. I am not his biggest fan but how F1 supporters treat him needs to change.

Other drivers don’t get booed when standing on the podium but Hamilton does. And you can’t tell me it is because they don’t like his driving.

He is vilified because of the colour of his skin, hence the reaction he gets during the Spanish Grand Prix. The people in the crowd who paint their faces black and black wigs, wearing shirts that read: “Hamilton’s family.” It isn’t because they are avid Hamilton enthusiasts.

Whether it is Black Lives Matter or All Lives Matter, the WNBA has set the benchmark in 2016, the same way Smith did at a small basketball game in Clayton, Missouri, back in 2014.

Sport has the power to unite and make a change in ways unimaginable.