A woman who was tasked with singing the national anthem and took a knee during her performance Friday night at AmericanAirlines Arena has been revealed as an employee of the Miami Heat.
The singer, identified as Denasia Lawrence, knelt during her performance and then proceeded to open her jacket revealing a “Black Lives Matter” t-shirt.
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In an entry on her Facebook page, Lawrence, who also works as a social worker, later commented, “When I took the opportunity to sing the national anthem at the Heat game, it was bigger than me. Right now, we’re seeing a war on Black & Brown bodies— we’re being unjustly killed and overly criminalized. I took the opportunity to sing AND kneel; to show that we belong in this country AND that we have the right to respectfully protest injustices against us.I took the opportunity to sing AND kneel to show that, I too, am America. h/t sun-sentinel
The team later claimed they had no advance knowledge of the action that would be taken during the Lawrence’s performance. The Heat lost the NBA exhibition to the Philadelphia 76ers 113-110.