The Boston Celtics center once known as Enes Kanter is back with a new identity as a US citizen and human rights activist with an updated name to reflect this new iteration, Enes Kanter Freedom. He has been using his platform as an NBA player to draw attention to a number of important causes.
But as many have learned parachuting into a struggle they are not part of personally and thus do not have the same stakes nor familiarity with the details, Freedom is finding his efforts are not always going as planned — nor received perhaps as hoped. Getting flak for tactics and his comments about LeBron James, Jeremey Lin, and Americans protesting their government, the Celtic center has felt blowback in recent days.
To that end, this episode of the CLNS Media “Celtics Lab” podcast features your trio of usual hosts taking a closer look at Freedom’s activism with Sports Editor of The Nation and columnist criticizing the new US citizen’s recent activism, Dave Zirin. Alex Goldberg, Cameron Tabatabaie, and Justin Quinn talk with Zirin about what’s not gone right, and what could go better.
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They also cover how de-centering oneself from the work at hand and forging ties with affected communities that allow them to use their own voices for their own struggles rather than usurping their place in the fight could breathe new life into Freedom’s goals.
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And more importantly, help do less damage while trying to do good.
This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!
