- JEMELE HILL: To run, to drive, to push,
to compete, to excel.
To make the right move at the right moment
in order to do the damn thing.
The images of black athletes excelling throughout history
are indelibly seared into our brains.
Serena's screaming serve,
the powerful stride of Jackie Joyner-Kersee,
Tiger's fist pump, Griffey's backwards hat.
For black athletes though, there's more.
There is always more.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words,
but for black men and women around the world,
they're priceless.
See, it's never just about the feat.
It's never just about the touchdown, or the homerun,
the race, the putt, or the score.
Nah, behind what the pictures shows,
just beyond what is obvious, is what is inferred.
See, the story of the black athlete in activism
is also the story of what it means to be
black in America, and in this country,
it's been a long held tradition to either hide, steal,
or edit that story.
Throughout time, black athletes have endeavored to tell the truth.
Sure, sometimes the gestures were obvious,
the words were loud.
Sometimes it looked courageous, strong and powerful.
Other times it was graceful.
We got the message.
The shared experience of a smile
never being too far away from a wince,
the fact that accomplishment rarely meant acceptance,
and the all too true reality that even great triumph
can be coupled with intense anxiety.
Be it loud or quiet, obvious, purposeful, or not,
the images and the statements that came with them
gave something to us.
What we take from those images
is what both an athlete and activist provide--
inspiration, pride, and a hope that one day,
we are seen as significant and capable
no matter where we are,
because we would love nothing more
than to live in a world
where a touchdown can just be a touchdown.
- MAN: We know the death of George Floyd and so many
other black men by white cops is sparking profound discussions
and change in America.
Tonight, the story of one artist trying to change the world.
- WOMAN: Raafi puts a lot of time and effort
into deciding exactly what each jersey will look like.
The details are very specific.
- RAAFI: If there's stars on the jersey,
that's how many bullets were used to kill the person.
- You know, if I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon.
- RAAFI: There's that saying,
all we're asking is for people to stop killing us.
This project exists because people won't stop doing that.
- RAAFI: You know, when I was a kid,
I was really good at baseball and soccer,
and you see the kids in the commercials,
the type of All-American kid,
and I just thought, like,
who is more All-American than me?
If they're talking about an All-American kid,
they're talking about me.
And at some point in my life,
I realized that nobody else thought of me that way,
and that nobody would ever think about me that way.
I started designing "Unarmed" jerseys in 2013
after Trayvon Martin's killer went free.
I thought, maybe if I put him on a team,
then people would care.
- WOMAN: I felt sad.
I'm glad that these names are being kept in the limelight because they are victims.
It's very emotional for me as a police officer especially,
and I'm really thankful to the artist, yourself,
for doing what you're doing.
We have to get justice for these people
who were shot and killed unarmed.
- RAAFI: In the fall of 2020, I drove across the country
visiting cities where these traumas have taken place.
I went to Louisville and Kenosha, Minneapolis,
Denver, Milwaukee.
When I could, I asked the people I met on the street to help me.
We installed jerseys and shared stories.
- RAAFI: Yo!
- Whoo! - Take care, buddy.
Hey, man. Let's go.
- First of all, what's your name?
- MICH: My name's Mich.
- Mich, how you feeling right now?
- MICH: Man, just glad to be a part of something like this,
just spreading the word,
doing something that's important,
getting the message out there to people who don't know.
It's years and years of history into that jersey,
in that word, in our skin.
We ain't taking no more of this stuff anymore.
It's time, it's time.
- All right, man. Hey. - RAAFI: Hey.
I went to George Floyd Square
and the Elijah McClain memorial site.
I met activists, police, parents and teachers.
They told me to keep going.
I have collaborators now.
We recently installed
the first gallery show of "Unarmed."
- MAN: Two inches, right? - RAAFI: Two inches, my man.
The day before our show opened, a woman visited the gallery.
We didn't say much, but by the time she left,
she was crying.
- MAN: I'm excited to do this
for George Floyd and Breanna Taylor.
Feeling these emotions in this moment
as we delicately place these jerseys in their honor.
I'm like, wow, I'm a part of something special.
I'm a part of something that means something.
I didn't expect to feel this way.
It feels good, but...
it hurts, too, you know? I don't know.
Yeah, it feels good, but it hurts at the same time.
It's hard to explain.
I'm a part of something because I feel this movement,
but unfortunately, we had to lose people for it,
and I don't think that's necessarily
how it should've happened.
- RAAFI: "Unarmed" has taught me a lot of things
over these last weeks, months, and years.
Most of all, it's taught me that
it's time for our country to start treating us
like we belong here.