PJ Dozier stood shoulder to shoulder Tuesday night at Colorado’s state capitol building with thousands of others who are demanding change.
He, as much as anyone, knows we need it.
Dozier was born in Columbia, South Carolina. He went to high school and college in the same city and state. He’s well versed on the topic of racism.
“Me and a couple of my friends were just talking about it but being from down south, we grew up where this originated from,” Dozier told DNVR. “You’re around it so much that you’re really aware of it. As kids growing up, our parents always taught us where to go, where not to go, and just to be mindful of these things. I feel like certain parts of the country are just now being exposed to it.”
Dozier has been discriminated against before because of the color of his skin. He’s been closely trailed by employees at grocery stores before. He’s noticed how a passerby will try to avoid him and move to the other side of the sidewalk when he’s approaching.
“I don’t want to say you get used to it but down south you’re born into it,” said Dozier. “You’re around it so much that you adapt and you understand where you fit in and where you don’t. Being from the south it’s pretty normalized down there.”
He was at the capitol Tuesday alongside Nuggets president of basketball operations Tim Connelly who’s been attending the rallies in Denver all week. And before returning to Denver earlier this week from South Carolina where he has spent most of the NBA’s hiatus, Dozier attended rallies and protests back home.
The Nuggets are encouraging their players to use their voice and platform in the wake of George Floyd’s murder on May 25 which triggered protests and rallies across the world. In Washington D.C., Jerami Grant attended a protest earlier this week. Gary Harris and Monte Morris were in downtown Denver at the state capitol Wednesday night where protests continued for a seventh-straight day.
Connelly spoke passionately Wednesday on the Nuggets social media channels about his frustrations that nothing has changed despite the fact that incidents akin to Floyd’s murder continue to happen.
In 2015, Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old black man, was arrested in Connelly’s hometown of Baltimore and charged for possessing a knife. While he was being transported in a police van, Gray mysteriously fell into a coma and was taken to a nearby trauma center. He died seven days later.
“What we’ve seen this week is a culmination of systematic racism and a disproportionate justice system if you’re white,” Connelly said.
You could also feel the anger in Michael Malone’s voice during a local radio appearance Tuesday that the subject of police brutality towards African Americans is brought to the national forefront every few years yet no meaningful change takes place.
It’s why as an organization the Nuggets want to make a lasting change. The team is actively trying to set up a town hall meeting with Denver Mayor Michael Hancock and the Denver police chief to engage their players on the matter.
“We’ve been telling each other to use our voices,” Dozier told DNVR. “Whether it’s in Denver or in our hometowns. Guys want to do something together as a team.”
With a resumption of the season on the horizon, more players are set to return to Denver in the coming weeks. The NBA’s plan to resume the season at Disney World is expected to be approved Thursday during a NBA Board of Governor’s conference call and a long-awaited timetable for a return to play will follow.
To the Nuggets and many throughout the league, it’s important that when games do resume the motivation to make meaningful change isn’t lost.
Dozier shares that hope and takes solace in the fact that the rest of the country is again getting exposed to the racism that he’s had a front row seat to his entire life.
“It was a completely unnecessary event that took place,” Dozier said of Floyd’s murder. “But, you know, it’s been happening. It’s been happening around the country for a long time and I’m just glad that we’re now bringing awareness to it and really striving to bring the justice that’s deserved. It’s been a problem for a long time so for everyone to come together as one to make a change, it’s definitely a huge step in what this country has to do to move forward.”
