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In a candid June 8 interview with Menlo Park-based nonprofit StreetCode Academy, Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry discussed participating in Palo Alto’s Black Lives Matter protest, activism, fatherhood and making a difference.
The interview, held on Instagram Live between Curry and Squint, chief evangelist StreetCode Academy, starts at the 21-minute mark and presents a warm and thoughtful conversation between two men discussing, in large part, the Peninsula’s response to the Black Lives Matter movement.
Curry, who lives in Atherton, participated in Black Lives Matter protests in Oakland and Palo Alto. At the Palo Alto protest, Curry brought his 7-year-old daughter, Riley, who participated with classmates.
“That’s a moment I know she’ll remember for a long time, in terms of the diversity of people that were out there speaking on behalf of the change for the black experience,” Curry said. “For her I know that’s going to be a life-changing perspective, even at 7. … It was amazing. It was a proud moment as a parent to be a part of that.”
Curry and Squint also talked about racism, and about how they, as parents, both used the protest as a teaching moment with their kids.
“Four hundred years of systemic racism, people living bad intentions and morals, and world views that don’t make sense in terms of humanity and equality – those are all learned traits,” Curry said. “As a parent, you grow into that responsibility year after year after year as your kids develop and understand that.”
When it comes to longer-range activism, he said one challenge can be to “keep people accountable in the minutiae of their lives,” whether it’s someone challenging a family member’s “racist tendencies” or, for himself, thinking of questions to ask brand partners, investors and others in the corporate world about how they’re investing in the black community.
“If people can handle the minutiae of their lives and keep people accountable and get the hate out of people’s (hearts), then we’re on the right track,” he said.
Squint asked Curry what he thought is the best way to make change.
“Having love and valuing people for who they are is huge,” Curry said.
“The thing I’m thinking about now is how you can connect as many dots as possible with the resources you have available. That can look a lot of different ways for a lot of different people. … Whatever is within your means and your reach, you exhaust them. That’s what I’m trying to do on my own and with our family, but everyone can do that. It just might look different, and that’s OK.”
Watch the interview here, starting around 21:00.
StreetCode Academy is a nonprofit based in Menlo Park that provides free coding, entrepreneurship and design education to underserved communities of color in Silicon Valley.
Kate Bradshaw writes for The Almanac, the sister publication of PaloAltoOnline.com.
Kate Bradshaw writes for The Almanac, the sister publication of PaloAltoOnline.com.
Kate Bradshaw writes for The Almanac, the sister publication of PaloAltoOnline.com.
Kate Bradshaw writes for The Almanac, the sister publication of PaloAltoOnline.com.