TORONTO – Over the past 72 hours, Taijuan Walker has experienced an incredible convergence of athlete activism, professional upheaval and personal tragedy.
On Wednesday night, he was among the group of players who led the Seattle Mariners to not play against the San Diego Padres in protest of the ongoing racial injustice after the police shooting of Jacob Blake by a police officer in Kenosha, Wis.
The next morning, he was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays and as he flew across the United States to join his team, Hurricane Laura tore through Lake Charles, La., where his father and siblings live. They had taken refuge with some family three hours north in Shreveport so they were safe, but “I got a text last night from my dad and they said they lost everything,” said Walker. “Pretty emotional for me and for them, too.”
Yet there he was Friday afternoon at Sahlen Field with his new teammates, addressing the media in a Black Lives Matter T-shirt on Jackie Robinson Day. These are unprecedented days in so many different ways, many of them intersecting at once for 28-year-old.
“A lot of emotions, honestly, just a lot going on,” Walker said of the past 72 hours. “The biggest thing is the support I have from my family, friends and all my teammates, too, with Seattle. It was huge. I thought we did a really good job as an organization when I was with Seattle of just having those open talks. They did a good job of making sure we knew that we were supported and they had our backs in any decision we decided to make, whatever it was. Wednesday, when we decided not to play, the amount of support we had from all the teammates, coaches, front office, everyone, was amazing.
“Then the next day, getting traded, all the rumours, it’s hard not to look at it so I had a hunch it was coming. It’s always tough getting traded, but I’m excited to be here with this young group of guys. Honestly, we hear so much about them throughout the media, so I’m excited to get going.”
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Walker gets going on a Blue Jays team resuming action after supporting the decision of the Boston Red Sox to sit out Thursday’s series finale between the clubs.
As a member of The Players Alliance, a coalition of more than 100 Black current and former players dedicated to using their platform to “create increased opportunities for the Black community in every aspect of our game and beyond,” Walker will be donating his salary from games Thursday and Friday to support the organization’s efforts.
“It’s being open to taking any action like that, whatever it might be,” he said. “Sometimes it doesn’t have to be donating money, it’s just being places and showing up and talking to people, supporting groups who really need it. There are so many ways you can support and stuff. But I think this is a big step in the right direction. Hopefully a lot of other people start taking these steps with us.”
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