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'Now is the time': Cincinnati Reds' Matt Bowman, Jesse Biddle speak out for Black Lives Matter

Cincinnati Reds pitcher Matt Bowman doesn’t have a large social media platform. He has a little more than 2,000 followers on Twitter, with most of his tweets from four or five years ago.

With people protesting around the country for racial equality, Bowman felt it was a moment when he needed to speak out. He was inspired by social media posts from outspoken Black players around the league and wanted to publicly show support for them.

He reached out to teammate Jesse Biddle, who had nearly 9,000 followers on Instagram, and a few other players about matching donations to social justice charities, like the NAACP, Equal Justice Initiative and the Southern Poverty Law Center, along with a clean-up fund in Minneapolis.