Find out how "Power of the Dream" empowered and broadcasted a call to action.
New WNBA centric Prime Video documentary premieres June 18, 2024!
Power of the Dream is a new documentary film about the empowering and unlikely true story of how a group of professional women's basketball players forever changed the landscape of their sport and the course of U.S. politics. The feature-length documentary will launch on June 18, 2024 exclusively on Prime Video.
In 2020, WNBA players decided that what was or was not happening in the court of law and politics was more important than what was happening on the basketball court. This documentary tips off not long after August 23, 2020, when Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old black man was shot in the back four times and the side three time, being seriously injured by police officer Rusten Sheskey in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The police shooting was followed by community unrest, which included rallies, marches, property damage, arson, clashes with police, and civilian shootings.
Although the spotlight began to shine brighter in 2020, it was in 2016 after a tumultuous, chaotic, and uncertain year for many marginalized and minority communities in America when the spark to stand up and ignite change through their platform as professional athletes truly began to burn. A month before professional NFL athlete Colin Kaepernick became the center of many news stories for his silent protests against the unfair treatment of African Americans by kneeling on the sideline at NFL’s games, WNBA players began a protest that would shift the tides for years to come. In 2016, the Phoenix Mercury, Indiana Fever, and New York Liberty players all wore attire during warm-ups that supported Black Lives Matter and the lives of the murdered Dallas police officers before several different games. In response, the WNBA fined each team $5,000, with each player who wore a shirt receiving a $500 fine. During this time, players also began using their press conferences to address their protests and voicing why it’s important that they had shed their league-mandated warm-ups to wear T-shirts that addressed many recent fatal shootings in American.
“We really feel like there’s still an issue here in America,” Tanisha Wright of the New York Liberty said. “And we want to be able to use our platforms, we want to be able to use our voices, we don’t want to let anybody silence us and what we want to talk about. It’s unfortunate that the WNBA has fined us and not supported its players.”
This documentary highlights how the WNBA led spark for change in 2016 would go on to help lead the charge toward change for years to come as protests and conversations about injustices, racism, and mistreatment for black and other marginalized people in society became an all-star topic in the world of professional sports. Some of the forms the players protested were silent, sentimental, and visual. Many players wore pre-game t-shirts honoring victims, some knelt during the National Anthem, and some wore shirts calling for the arrest of officers whose questionable calls in the line of duty too quickly took the life of unarmed black civilians. However, these protests were also loud and dialogue heavy as many players passionately and sincerely brought these topics to the forefront of their interviews and press conferences.
In 2019, Kelly Loeffler, 1 of 2 female owners of WNBA team the Atlanta Dream became a Georgia senator. Politics was officially begging to dribble toward center court in the WNBA. As 2020 continued to rolled on, these women were ready to not only ignite change, but they were ready to be the change, and empower others, both their pro athlete peers and anyone in the community that the time is here, right now, to stand tall, and do the very same. Loeffler, a Republican, had publicly and repeatedly derided the WNBA for dedicating its season to social justice issues.
During the height of the Black Lives Matter protests, multiple killings of unarmed black and brown people, and during a time when several laws that once supported marginalized people were facing repeal, the players of the Atlanta Dream stood united and vocal against many laws that their team owner supported, especially her opposition to all things Black Lives matter. Therefore, when the senate seat occupied by WNBA Atlanta Drean team owner Kelly Loefller was officially up for grabs, the players of the Atlanta Dream (as well as Players from Seattle Storm, Chicago Sky, Phoenix Mercury) made a loud and courageous protest during their warmups by donning "Vote Warnock" shirts, in support of Raphael Warnock, the opponent running against Loeffler for Georgia’s senate seat. The "Vote Warnock" shirts were the brainchild of four-time Olympic gold medalist and Seattle point guard Sue Bird.
“It was something we talked through and wanted to be strategic, intentional about our words and language,” Dream forward Elizabeth Williams told reporters during a press conference a few days after the Warnock shirt protests.
These women organized, united, sought counsel, invoked their rights, and embarked on a path that would change the course of how professional athletes use their platforms to boldly speak up and out against racism, the treatment of marginalized people, LGBTQIA+ equality, healthcare, and much more. These women did not check the stats, count the fouls, nor call a timeout to calculate the risk associated with speaking out, demanding the nameless be given a name, and raising awareness for justice, nor did they waiver in their support and call for action from public officials and leaders in the community. They simply lead with love empowered by the dream filled with hope for a better and equal society for everyone. Power of the Dream remarkably showcases how these women accepted the call to turn that dream into reality.
"Warnock has spent his life fighting for the people and we need him in Washington." -Sue Bird (August, 2020)
In 2021 Raphael Warnock, the son of a WW2 vet who was raised in Savannah, Georgia public housing and later went on the be a Morehouse College graduate and minister, became the first African American senator to represent Georgia, beating Kelly Leoffler and ousting her from her Georgia senate seat. Warnock won in a runoff race against Leoffler by more than 93,000 votes, helping Democrats to win control of the senate for the first time since 2015.
It was also around this time that “rumors” to sell the team became more imminent. The team had been on the market, however more serious and potential buyers began to inquiry. The WNBA and NBA Boards of Governors unanimously approved the sale of the Atlanta Dream to a three-member investor group less then 2 months after the runoff election. Larry Gottesdiener, Suzanne Abair, and two-time WNBA champion Renee Montgomery became the official owners of the Atlanta Dream. Montgomery, who said she was inspired by LeBron James’ role in the “More Than a Vote” campaign, recognized the rare and unique opportunity to have a stake in an ownership group that aligned with her own values. Montgomery had already opted out of the 2020 season to focus on social justice issues, now this new direction into ownership prompted her to announce her retirement after 11 seasons. By virtue of their acquisition of the Atlanta Dream, Abair and Montgomery also became among the first openly LGBTQIA+ people to own and operate a major professional sports franchise in the U.S.
As a society we still have miles to go, however the spark ignited by WNBA players in 2016 was just the initial light that began to lead toward a path for a better tomorrow. Protests began to spread throughout the highest levels of professional sports and the entertainment industry. People began to feel seen, heard, understood, and like they could join others in hopes of being a part of something that could shape and mold our community into a better and more caring place for everyone with the light burning brightly through the WNBA activism. Power of the Dream shows viewers how these women understood the immense amount of power that can turn dreams of change into action and reality.
Key athletes offering first-hand accounts in the documentary include 4-time WNBA Champion Sue Bird, retired WNBA-star Angel McCoughtry, Layshia Clarendon of the Los Angeles Sparks, Elizabeth Williams of the Chicago Sky, and Nneka Ogwumike of the Seattle Storm, as well as media personalities Jemele Hill and Holly Rowe.
The documentary is produced by Dawn Porter, Sue Bird, Nneka Ogwumike, and Tracee Ellis Ross.
Check out the trailer below. Power of the Dream will premiere on June 18, 2024 on Prime Video!
Presented by Prime Video Sports, Power of the Dream is from Industrial Media, Trilogy Films, Joy Mill Entertainment, and TOGETHXR.