Angel McCoughtry, the , rebounding and steals, led UofL to its first NCAA title game in 2009. She now plays for the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces. Earlier this month, she helped create the WNBA/WNBPA Social Justice Council to address issues like inequality and systemic racism. 

, this season’s WNBA jerseys will include the names of people who have experienced social injustice – a way to bring the conversation to a bigger audience.

McCoughtry announced this initiative by posting an Instagram photo of her Aces jersey with Breonna Taylor’s name on it. Taylor was fatally shot by the Louisville Metro Police Department in March after officers executed a no-knock search warrant.

“This is a way to use our platform to be a helping hand during these trying times,” McCoughtry wrote in her post. “Silence is an ally for EVIL and when sports resume WE WILL NOT BE SILENT.”

The WNBA season is expected to return later this month.

Meanwhile, former UofL Football and current Atlanta Falcons player Jamon Brown has done plenty of activism work in his former community recently. , who was selected in the NFL draft in 2015, established the Jamon Brown Foundation to help those in need in Louisville.

In March, Brown launched a through that foundation to specifically provide financial support for those affected by the COVID-19 outbreak.

Most recently, Brown has been using that platform to attend and speak at local protests, , “I’m a citizen before I’m a football player. I’m a Black man before I’m a citizen. But I’m a human before I’m any of those … I’m trying to do what I can to shed light on what’s going down.”

Brown has influenced a number of current UofL players to join him in using their voice to raise awareness. Indeed, a number of those players have marched beside Brown and have led efforts to clean up the community and participate in other service events.

UofL’s football staff has also encouraged current players to use their voices. 

Defensive coordinator Bryan Brown told the Courier Journal that this encouragement comes from head coach Scott Satterfield: “That’s one thing Coach Satt said, we need to make sure we don’t let this thing die, you know about racial diversity, racial tension and police brutality against people of color, we don’t need to let it die down.”

Brown, 25, played for Fern Creek High School and stayed home to play for the Cardinals, where he was a starter for the 2014 and 15 seasons. The St. Louis/Los Angeles Rams chose him as the 72nd pick in the 2015 NFL draft, and last year he transferred to the Giants. He has been the starter in 38 out of 50 of his NFL games so far.

Last week he returned to his hometown, attending a men’s basketball game where he had the opportunity to meet President Neeli Bendapudi, and talking to kids at Louisville’s West End School about bullying. 

in which he admitted that – although 6-foot-4-inches tall and 340 pounds now – he endured bullying himself when he was a kid. 

Brown has established the Jamon Brown Foundation to help those in need in Louisville. Last year, the organization funded a 13-and-under West Louisville all-star baseball team’s trip to the Babe Ruth World Series, the CJ reports. It has also helped feed families for Thanksgiving and facilitated a toy drive for Christmas. 

Brown also hosts a free youth football camp with financial support from a golf fundraiser. His goal is to add more events, with a mission of “impacting the lives of those people who are struggling with violence, poverty and youth and young-adult homelessness.” 

“We have that ability to help anyone of any color, of any age, of any gender,” he told the publication. 

“I take pride in being from Louisville, man. … So I kind of wanted to be a picture of, ‘Hey, when you make it out, take pride in the city that you’re from and be able to be a part of its growth and helping it move ahead.’”