From Ali to Maya Moore, Bill Russell to Colin Kaepernick, athletes have consistently used their platform to spotlight injustices.

Here is a look at moments where athletes did not simply stick to sports:

After Chicago White Sox’s Cap Anson demanded Moses Walker, an African-American, not play, Toledo manager Charlie Morton took a stand, called his bluff and started Walker in right field.

In 1940, football players at New York University stood in solidarity with fullback Leonard Bates after an NYU coach accepted the request of an opposing team to not use Bates in a game because of the color of his skin.

Brooklyn Dodgers General Manager Branch Rickey ignores the ‘norm’ and breaks the race barrier by signing Negro League star, Jackie Robinson.

Four-time national champion Alice Marble wrote a letter that rocked the tennis world when she advocated for African-American competitor Althea Gibson to be allowed to compete in the US Open.

In 1950, Gibson became the first Black woman to do so.

Prominent Black athletes came together in support of Muhammad Ali, who refused to join the U.S. Army in 1967.

Athletes at the table included: Jim Brown, Bill Russell, Lew Alcindor and more.

Tommie Smith and John Carlos took a stand against racism and discrimination, wearing black gloves while raising their fists during their 200-meter medal ceremony at the 1968 Olympics.

The ‘Syracuse 8’ chose to sit out the 1970 college football season in an effort to bring racial equality to the athletic program.

The group demanded:
Better healthcare
Academic support
Fair intra-squad competition
Diversity on the coaching staff

In 1989, Hall of Fame coach John Thompson protested a new academic eligibility rule that he believed targeted African-American athletes, denying them of scholarships.

In 1992, former US Open Champion Arthur Ashe joined a demonstration supporting the equal treatment of Haitians and African-Americans.

After Ashe’s passing, former Detroit Pistons’ center, @OldenPolynice1 followed in his footsteps and continued to spread the message.

In 1996, Denver Nuggets guard Mahmoud Adul-Rauf decided to stop standing for the national anthem. Abdul-Rauf voiced that he saw the flag as a symbol of oppression, of tyranny.

In 2003, Manhattanville College guard Toni Smith refused to look at the U.S. flag, protesting the country’s involvement in the war in Iraq.

After the police killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, Ariyana Smith walked onto her team’s home court with her hands raised then fell to the floor for 4½ minutes.

In 2016, @MooreMaya and additional WNBA players started wearing “Black Lives Matter” t-shirts prior to WNBA games to protest police shootings throughout the country.

In 2016, @Kaepernick7 began kneeling during the national anthem as a form of protest against racial injustices in America.

“I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses Black people and people of color.”