CONCORD, N.C. _ Duke basketball player Wendell Moore Jr. said he had one primary goal regarding the protest against systemic racism he organized and led Saturday afternoon _ to "bring the noise."
Moore, 18, is well-known in the Concord area for leading Cox Mill to two North Carolina state basketball championships in high school. Inspired by the "Black Lives Matter" movement, Moore attended two protests in the Charlotte area over the past two weeks.
Afterward, he wondered aloud to his girlfriend, 19-year-old UNC Charlotte student Marissa Moyer, why similar events in Concord were rare.
"Why don't you and I just organize one ourselves?" Moyer asked.
And so the two teenagers did just that, working feverishly together for five days in preparation for the 90-minute peaceful protest they led Saturday at Concord's Dorton Park.
Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyewski called Moore a few hours before the event began.
"He's very supportive of what I was doing here," Moore said of that conversation with Coach K. "He said he was very proud of me, that it takes courage to come out and do this."
