CHICAGO — Bulls star Joakim Noah has spoken out against violence in the past, including producing a video in which some of his fellow NBA players talk about people they've lost to street conflicts.
In the video, called "You're Not Alone," Noah talks of a teardrop pendant designed by his mother Cecilia Rodhe to raise money for anti-violence efforts through his foundation Noah's Arc.
"The smoothness of it on the outside, and then [on] the inside it looks like it's gone through a lot. It represents people. It's also a symbol of hope: Just know that no matter what you're going thorough, you're wearing this and we're all in this together, this fight."
On Friday, the manager of the rapper Lil Durk, Uchenna Agina, was shot and killed hours after talking with Noah about anti-violence projects.
There was no immediate comment from Noah. But in talking with reporters earlier this month about an anti-violence initiative started with his mother called "Rock the Drop: The Drop of Consciousness," Noah said violence is "not just a problem that's going on the South Side or the West Side. It's everybody's problem."
"I mean, it's a harsh reality here in Chicago," Noah told reporters. "Violence is out of control. We've got to find solutions."
No more violence, Chicago. Stand up with me and #RockYourDrop by visiting http://t.co/XW5PdnqtOr pic.twitter.com/91nDDimi00
— Joakim Noah (@JoakimNoah) March 4, 2015Last summer, he hosted a Peace Basketball Tournament with the Rev. Michael Pfleger of St. Sabina, for the the third time. He told reporters before the tournament at the United Center, "We have to find a way together — whether you're rich, poor, black, white, whatever you are — to come together and solve this together."
On his website, he wrote of apprehensively entering his first tournament at St. Sabina, "All I knew was kids were killing kids at an unimaginable rate."
A 2014 ESPN story detailed how he has gone into South and West Side neighborhoods quietly, to dinners and barbecues, to learn more about gangs and violence. Noah grew up in affluence: his father was a professional tennis player, his mother an artist.
But now, he said, "This is where I live. I live in Chicago now."
"I just want to do my best. At the end of the day, I just want to go out there [to the community] and help, because this is just as important to me as winning a championship."
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