Kansas State women’s basketball players march in Topeka as part of peaceful protests
When Christianna Carr drove to Topeka for a peaceful protest against racism last weekend, she didn’t know what to expect. It was her first time at that kind of event, and the Kansas State women’s basketball player was surrounded mostly by strangers.
But she made friends quickly.
Not only did she have much to say about the recent unrest in this country following the racially charged death of George Floyd, she felt more empowered than usual to share her message after she bumped into one of her teammates, Peyton Williams, at the protest.
Together, they posted a powerful picture on social media. Carr, who grew up in Minnesota and has a black father, is on the left. Williams, who was born and raised in Topeka by white parents, is on the right. They are both smiling in the middle of a large crowd, surrounded by signs calling for equality. Carr brought one to the event that read “Black Lives Matter.”
Much like the several hundred others in attendance, they looked different than one another and came from alternate backgrounds. But they united for a common goal and marched for change.
In some ways, it reminded Carr and Williams of the way they have teamed up on the basketball court.
“It was cool to see that some protests can be peaceful and don’t turn into rioting and looting and all that bad stuff,” Carr said. “It was really nice to get our point across and listen to some people about it. It was great to feel like I was actually making a change.”
So much so that Carr was busy Tuesday making three more signs for her friends and family to display at a another protest planned for 6:30 p.m. that evening in Manhattan.
After seeing what seemed like a never-ending stream of violence at protests in the Minneapolis area, and hearing first-hand accounts about them from some of her friends, she was proud to experience a different side.
You could say she has found her voice.
“It was my time to actually speak up more than just social media and do my part,” Carr said. “Being a woman of color, saying something on social media is the bare minimum for what my calling is. I decided to take it a step further.”
Williams, a basketball and volleyball dual-sport star for the Wildcats, attended the protest in more of a support role. Though she is unable to completely relate to the racial experiences of others, she did study anthropology at K-State and wants people across the world to feel like equals.
She attended the protest with her brother and called herself a “white ally.” Like Carr, Williams said she wanted to go beyond making a statement on social media and show her support in person.
This was her first protest, too, and she is glad she attended. Sharing the experience with Carr made the day even more special.
“It was really important for me to go and listen, first and foremost,” Williams said. “I wanted to hear their perspectives and just be there and show that I am here and I am with you in person. Then to have an additional connection was really meaningful for me. To share that moment with Chrissy was really cool.”
The K-State women’s basketball teammates both feel like they have grown a lot in the past week. After they linked up in Topeka, they also participated in a video forum on equality that was hosted by student-athletes at K-State and Oklahoma. More than 800 people involved with college sports were involved and lots of great ideas were shared, they said.
Carr said it meant a great deal to hear from K-State athletic director Gene Taylor during the conference. She said he apologized for taking some time to issue a statement of support for K-State’s black student athletes following Floyd’s death, simply because he didn’t know what to say.
She used to believe “silence is violence,” but Taylor’s words made her think a little differently.
“A lot of people don’t know what to say,” Carr said. “Nobody wants to be the next trending thing on Twitter. I can totally agree with that. It was really cool to connect with people and hear their side and then come together and work on a solution.”
One of the things they talked about was what comes next.
Williams shared the following advice from her experience at last weekend’s protest in Topeka.
“Educate yourself and listen first,” Williams said. “I think that is really important. If you listen to what the actual needs and emotions are of people being affected by these things you can’t go wrong. They you can support them the right way.”
Carr will continue to share her thoughts at protests and with messages via social media. But she also shared some words of wisdom until the next one arrives.
“Use your platform and reach out to people who need help,” she said. “There is a lot of division in our country. The best thing you can do is use your platform with unity. If you don’t know what to say, just know that saying, ‘I love you’ and ‘I am here for you’ goes a long way.”