Duke freshman Henry Coleman stepped to the microphone at the on-campus Black Lives Matter protest last week and delivered an emotional speech. He discusses it here
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00 I thought it was an unbelievable job by Coach Kane, Coach Nolan, what they had set up.
00:04 But I was just moved just to speak for the people that didn't have a voice.
00:08 My parents told me I always just used my platform.
00:12 I built this platform.
00:13 They always tell me you wouldn't build a house and not sleep in it.
00:17 So I just have to use this platform and continue to talk.
00:21 It was not planned.
00:22 I think it was just those guys being my brothers and being with me.
00:27 It almost felt like a security blanket.
00:28 It felt like I had people around me that truly cared and that really followed the message
00:33 with me.
00:34 It's just some capabilities I always have.
00:39 I feel like I can lead these guys, but there are other guys on this team that are way more
00:43 experienced than me, that have way more knowledge, and that I can just kind of be a sponge and
00:48 soak up all the knowledge that they have to give me.
00:50 But I have those leadership qualities that I will be able to keep voicing and keep leading.
00:56 Coach K is a guy, he's super open.
01:00 He's always willing to accept change and be with his players.
01:04 He tells us that every day that he loves us and that he's thankful for us.
01:08 So I just think it's that common bond that we share with Coach that he's almost like
01:12 a father figure to a lot of us, that he helps us with a lot of different things on and off
01:18 the court.
01:19 And then with Coach Smith, he's just a guy that's super relatable, always being able
01:23 to talk to him, bounce ideas off of, whether that be sports, shoes, or the protests.
01:30 It's just, you know, he's a great guy.
01:33 My whole life, it's just been microaggressions, nothing to a crazy extent, but it's that going
01:39 to the store and having people follow you around.
01:42 It's running through the neighborhood and people looking at you a certain way.
01:46 It's that constant feeling, you going out the door every day, will I make it home?
01:51 It's just something that you have to live with, and it's something that a lot of people
01:54 and a lot of African Americans around this country have to live with.
01:57 [BLANK_AUDIO]