Rising Canadian basketball star Laeticia Amihere has commented on the ongoing Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests taking place in the US and many cities across the world by stating it has been an “eye opening experience”.
In an extensive interview with Sports Illustrated, the 19 year old is preparing for her sophomore season at South Carolina University after redshirting her first season due to a knee injury.
Born to a Ghanaian father and a mother from Ivory Coast in Canada, Amihere has witnessed that fast rise of the protests sparked by the shocking death of George Floyd, an African American man at the hands of white Police officers.
Protests have raged on in cities in Canada where Amihere is based following the death of Regis Korchinski-Paquet who fell from her balcony; at the time, she was alone with Police Officers in her apartment.
“I think for it’s a time to really reflect on what’s going on… prior to this I may not have seen or really heard of police brutality that much in Canada. A lot of my peers have been thinking that it’s something that happens in America and we are not prone to it happening here. I think it’s been an eye-opening experience for a lot of people down here” she said.
In her first season at South Carolina, Amihere averaged 4.7 points, 3.9 rebounds across 29 games in 12.8 minutes. She won bronze with Canada at the 2017 FIBA Under 19 World Cup.
Amihere made the headlines a few years back when she dunked in a game at age 16; she became the first Canadian woman to do so.
By Yaw Adjei-Mintah
@YawMintYM on Twitter
