Singer Wears ‘Black Lives Matter’ Shirt, Kneels During National Anthem At Miami Heat Game [VIDEO]

Denasia Lawrence

Singer Wears ‘Black Lives Matter’ Shirt During National Anthem

A woman named Denasia Lawrence is making headlines. On Friday night, she performed the national anthem prior to an NBA preseason game in Miami, and took a knee. Lawrence opened her jacket just before she started to sing, revealing that she was wearing a “Black Lives Matter” shirt.

Singer #DenasiaLawrence kneeled during a pre-season #MiamiHeat / #76ers game last night while performing the #nationalanthem

A video posted by NEW ACCOUNT (SPREAD THE WORD) (@thejasminebrand_) on Oct 22, 2016 at 5:34am PDT

On her Facebook, she explained

We’re being unjustly killed and overly criminalized. I took the opportunity to sing and kneel to show that we belong in this country and that we have the right to respectfully protest injustices against us. I didn’t get paid to sing the national anthem nor was this moment about any sort of fame. Black Lives Matter is far larger than a hashtag, it’s a rallying cry.

Following her performance, the Miami Heat organization said they were not aware that she had planned to do this. The NBA has a rule calling for players and coaches to stand during the anthem. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said on Friday,

All I can say is what we’ve seen in multiple preseason games so far is our players standing for the national anthem. It would be my hope that they would continue to stand for the national anthem. I think that is the appropriate thing to do.

Photo: Instagram

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