The Undefeated’s Editor-In-Chief Kevin Merida reacts to Carmelo Anthony taking a stand

When The ESPYS opened on Wednesday, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade delivered a message that served as a call to action for professional athletes to use their influence to speak out against gun violence.

Before The ESPYS, New York Knick Anthony made his own plea to his fellow athletes. He took to Instagram and challenged his peers to stand up following the fatal shootings of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling.

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First off let me start off by saying " All Praise Due To The Most High." Secondly, I'm all about rallying, protesting, fighting for OUR people. Look I'll even lead the charge, By Any Means Necessary. We have to be smart about what we are doing though. We need to steer our anger in the right direction. The system is Broken. Point blank period. It has been this way forever. Martin Luther King marched. Malcolm X rebelled. Muhammad Ali literally fought for US. Our anger should be towards the system. If the system doesn't change we will continue to turn on the TVs and see the same thing. We have to put the pressure on the people in charge in order to get this thing we call JUSTICE right. A march doesn't work. We tried that. I've tried that. A couple social media post/tweet doesn't work. We've all tried that. That didn't work. Shooting 11 cops and killing 5 WILL NOT work. While I don't have a solution, and I'm pretty sure a lot of people don't have a solution, we need to come together more than anything at this time. We need each other. These politicians have to step up and fight for change. I'm calling for all my fellow ATHLETES to step up and take charge. Go to your local officials, leaders, congressman, assemblymen/assemblywoman and demand change. There's NO more sitting back and being afraid of tackling and addressing political issues anymore. Those days are long gone. We have to step up and take charge. We can't worry about what endorsements we gonna lose or whose going to look at us crazy. I need your voices to be heard. We can demand change. We just have to be willing to. THE TIME IS NOW. IM all in. Take Charge. Take Action. DEMAND CHANGE. Peace7 #StayMe7o

A post shared by Carmelo Anthony (@carmeloanthony) on Jul 8, 2016 at 8:02am PDT

The Knicks star was also featured in the New York Daily News.

The Undefeated’s Editor-In-Chief Kevin Merida sat down with ESPN’s Cari Champion on SportsCenter Coast to Coast and voiced his reaction on Anthony taking a stand and the powerful statement made during the opening of The ESPYS and how athletes can help spur change.

“Athletes have an enormous influence,” Merida said. “Their profession is not in disrepute. They bridge all divides. Athletes can bring people together for conversations unlike anybody else. If the most prominent athletes in every sport and the leagues joined together and they went into places like Knoxville, Chicago around the country, it would be extraordinary.”