●Shegavea boosttoMorrisBrownCollege’s
$5millionfundraisingcampaign,whichhelpedit apply
forreaccreditation.WhentheWNBAannouncedit wasrestartingitsseason,
Montgomeryhada choicetomake.Shecouldreporttothe
league’s“wubble”—itsCovid-freebubble—orshecouldskip
theseasonanddevoteherselftoAtlanta’sreelingBlack
community.OnJune 18 shetweetedthatshe’dsitit out.
Thenextday,Juneteenth,shethrewa partytofeedBlack
LivesMatterprotestersandhomelesspeopleinthecity’s
CentennialOlympicPark.“Mymomwastellingmewhen
peopledon’tfeelthattheirvoicesareheard,theyhaveto
makeit felt,”shesays.“I startedtothinkaboutwhat‘make
it felt’meanttome.It doesn’tmeanjustraisingyourvoice
buthavingactionbehindit.”
Montgomeryusedherseasonofftoworkona voter
registrationcampaigninGeorgiaandtogivespeeches
about activism to student-athletes at her
alma mater, the University of
Connecticut,aswellas
MorehouseCollege
and Georgia Tech.
And she focused
hard on saving a
lesser-known
school, Morris
Brown. Founded in
1881,it wasthefirst
college in Georgia
establishedbymem-
bersoftheBlackcommunity.Butin 2002
prosecutorschargeditsthen-presidentwith
defraudingthegovernmentandstudents,
andtheschoollostaccreditation.Thepres-
identpleadedguiltytoembezzlementin
2006 andgotprobation.
MorrisBrownsurvived,butonlybarely.
Itsenrollmentplummetedfroma high of
2,700studentstofewerthan50. Atone
pointthewaterwasturnedoffbecauseofanunpaidbill.
Montgomerybroughtattentiontotheschool’splightand
encouragedherfanstodonatetoitsfundraisingdrive.
She’snowplanningtoraisefundsfortuitionassistance
anda gamingcenterfora newe-sportsprogram.“She’s
putoutthewordthatMorrisBrownis stillopen,”saysKevin
James,theschool’scurrentpresident.
OriginallyfromSt.Albans,W.Va.,Montgomerywasan
All-AmericanatUConnandwona nationalchampionship
in2009.She’sbeenmoreofa roleplayerthana super-
starsince,thoughshewasanAll-Starin 2011 andwon
championshipswiththeMinnesotaLynxin 2015and2017.
She’dbeentheDream’sstartingpointguardforthepast
twoseasons.
Bysittingout,Montgomeryhadtogiveuphersalaryofabout$100,000.But her move helped set off a wave of
activismin theleague.Two more WNBA players, including
theDream’sleadingscorer, Tiffany Hayes, subsequently
optedouttojoinBLMprotests instead of playing.
Thenin August,after police in Kenosha, Wis., shot Jacob
Blake,playersfortheNBA’s Milwaukee Bucks refused to
takethecourtfortheir playoff game, leading to cancella-
tionsacrossallthemajor leagues. “When Jacob Blake got
shot,thewholeNBAstopped, the WNBA stopped, MLB,”
Montgomerysays.“While, yes, it was disappointing and,
yes,westillhavea long way to go, that’s progress. A whole
leaguestoppingbecause of police brutality? That’s never
happenedbefore.”
Duringthebubbleseason, the NBA and WNBA both
hadBlackLivesMatter painted on their courts and allowed
playerstoswapsocial justice messages in place of their
namesonjerseys.Next season, though, the NBA will be
back to normal because, as
Commissioner Adam Silver
has said, people just “want
to watch a basketball game.”
A WNBA spokesperson says
the league hasn’t made a
decision about on-court dis-
plays yet.
Montgomery, who plans to
return next season, says that
whatever happens, her activism
willcontinue. She notes that 13 owners of
majorU.S.sports teams contributed to theTrumpcampaign,making rules against athlete protests
seemhypocritical.Earlier this year she criticized Dream
co-owner(andU.S.Senator) Kelly Loeffler for saying that
BlackLivesMatterprotesters wanted to “destroy American
principles.”“Thereare a lot of people that just want to
turnontheTV,andthey want sports to entertain them,”
Montgomerysays.“Alot of athletes are saying we can’t just
dothat.I’mstilla partof the Black community, and I am still
goingtobethatwhenI leave the court.”
She’salsogoingto keep working on behalf of Morris
Brown andother historically Black colleges. “It’s our
history,”shesays.“Every time a school is underfunded
andlosesitsaccreditation or has to shut down, a lit-
tlepartofourhistory dies with it.” �Dina Bass and
BrandonKochkodinBloomberg Businessweek December 7, 202068