In 2014, former NBA star Stephen Jackson released the song “America Da Beautiful,” featuring legendary rapper Scarface, where he rapped about systemic racism, compared the NBA to a planation, and blasted former NBA team owner Donald Sterling.

After releasing the scathing song and a provocative music video that included images of the Klu Klux Klan and lynchings, Jackson never received another opportunity to play in the NBA again.

On May 25, Jackson’s lifelong friend George Floyd was killed after Minneapolis police officers kneeled on his neck and back for nearly nine minutes while he repeatedly cried out, “I can’t breathe.”

Plus, according to Jackson, NBA team owners are more concerned about the profits they make from black players than black humanity.

Knowing that the world is watching, Jackson says the fight for black lives is bigger than him and basketball.