'Sister survivors' moment of solidarity accepting Arthur Ashe Courage Award | ESPYS 2018 | ESPN

please welcome to the stage the recipients of the 2018 Arthur Ashe award for courage [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] thank you yes and the Arthur Ashe family for honoring survivors of sexual abuse it is a privilege to stand up here with my sister survivors as we represent hundreds more who are not with us tonight make no mistake we are here on this stage to present an image for the world to see a portrait of survival a new vision of courage the abuse of Larry Nasser began 30 years ago with me for 30 years people at the United States Olympic Committee USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University all placed money and medals above the safety of child athletes 30 years until the work of Detective lieutenant Andrea Mumford of the Michigan State Police Department and Angela Angela povel itis the Assistant Attorney General who prosecuted the case finally putting our abuser away for life and speaking out is not easy telling our stories of abuse over and over and over again in graphic detail is not easy we're sacrificing privacy we're being judged and scrutinized and it's ruling and it's painful but it is time I am here to say that we must start caring about children's safety more than we care about adults reputations and as and as a survivor I am here to say that we can if we can just give one person the courage to use their voice this is worth it if one more victim of sexual abuse feels less alone tonight then our suffering has meaning in my sport softball we typically measure ourselves by wins and losses well the amount of loss that we've endured over the years is almost immeasurable but tonight we stand here and it feels like we're finally winning there are a lot of conversations in our society that we tiptoe around as if there's something to avoid I know in my life I've seen people look that way at two issues extremely personal to me race and sexual abuse sexual abuse claims victims in every race showing no discrimination just like Arthur Ashe I stand so very proud representing not only minorities but all of us as humans the human race I encourage those suffering to will tie to your faith and stand tall when speaking your truth because I'm here to tell you that you cannot silence the strong forever 1997 1998 1999 2000 2004 2011 2013 2014 2015 2016 these were the years we spoke up about Larry Nasser's abuse all those years we were told you are wrong you misunderstood he's a doctor it's okay don't worry we've got it covered be careful there are risks involved the intention to silence us in favor of money metals and reputation but we persisted and finally someone listens and believed us this past January judge Rose marine aqua Lena showed a profound level of understanding by giving us each the opportunity to face our abuser to speak our truth and feel heard thank you judge aqua lena for honouring our voices for too long we were ignored and you helped us rediscover the power we each possess you may never meet the hundreds of children you saved but know they exist the ripple effect of our actions or inactions can be enormous spanning generations perhaps the greatest tragedy of this nightmare is that it could have been avoided predators thrive in silence it is all too common for people to choose to not get involved whether you act or do nothing you are shaping the world that we live in impacting others all we needed was one adult to have the integrity to stand between us and Larry Nasser if just one adult had listens believed and acted the people standing before you on this stage would have never met him too often abusers and enablers perpetuate suffering by making survivors feel that their truth doesn't matter to all the survivors out there don't let anyone rewrite your story your truth does matter you matter and you are not alone we all face hardships if we choose to listen and we choose to act with empathy we can draw strength from each other we may suffer alone but we survive together thank you [Applause] [Music]

Channel: ESPN

Views: 614,137

Keywords: espn, espn live, arthur ashe courage award, arthur ashe award, arthur ashe award for courage, sister survivors, larry nassar, arthur ashe award 2018, arthur ashe courage award 2018, espys, espys 2018, 2018 espys, 2018 espy awards, espy awards

Id: W9hu5HLoSzM

Length: 10min 8sec (608 seconds)

Published: Thu Jul 19 2018