Prominent sociologist and civil-rights activist Dr. Harry Edwards says the efforts of superstars such as Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James in using their platforms as a means for social change reflect an evolution in power among top black athletes but that action will be required to effect real change.Edwards, a professor emeritus at the University of California-Berkeley, told The Associated Press that athletes have the capability today that we only dreamed about in the 1960s when only one or two athletes even had endorsements.He dated the punctuated moments of the evolution back to the early part of the 20th century, saying it began as fights to gain legitimacy, then access, before moving on to respect and dignity -- and ultimately power.Joe Louis and Jack Johnson and Jesse Owens struggled for legitimacy, Edwards said. Then you began this struggle for access. Which is what Jackie Robinson and Larry Doby and Kenny Washington and all those guys were involved in. In the 1960s, the struggle was for respect and dignity.Now the struggle is for power. And these men have power. So they have a different forum than we had in the late 1960s to be able to go on network television and make a statement concerning violence and the killing of black men, women and children in this country. ... Thats an exercise of power.Anthony, the New York Knicks star forward, is taking a break Monday from his preparations with the U.S. Olympic basketball team to host a meeting in Los Angeles with athletes, politicians and people in the community to advance the conversation about what he has called a broken system.Anthonys meeting in Los Angeles coincides with the latest stop on the Olympic mens team exhibition schedule as the Americans prepare for the Rio Games.Edwards pointed to the need for progress on both an individual and collective level. He said trust and respect needs to be built between individuals and police and that both sides need to acknowledge wrongdoing. There are criminals in the community who deserve to be arrested and rogue officers who need to be held accountable for excessive force, he said.The bottom line of any step is the voting booth, Edwards said.If youre out there marching up and down the street with Black Lives Matter and then dont go to the polls to vote out the mayor of Ferguson, to vote out the sheriff of Milwaukee County or whatever, then ... youre marching into a cul-de-sac, Edwards said. When you march into a cul-de-sac and just come back out angry, youre not a member of a movement because its not going anywhere. Youre a member of a mob.And the difference in a representative democracy between a movement and a mob is whether you follow through with the actions necessary to make the changes that youve been trying to convince people are the correct direction to go.The newfound power of todays athlete comes from monetary wealth, celebrity status and having the vehicle of social media to communicate directly with the masses. They can reach hordes of people, encouraging them to get involved in social change.Anthony, James, Chris Paul and Dwyane Wade gave an anti-violence speech at the ESPYS and expressed their support of the values behind the Black Lives Matter movement. Missouri football players threatened to boycott games last year in support of student groups protesting the schools racial environment, and Missouri president Timothy Wolfe eventually retired. Serena Williams spoke out against the violence at Wimbledon. Members of the WNBAs Indiana Fever, New York Liberty and Phoenix Mercury recently wore black warm-up shirts in the wake of recent shootings by and against police officers and were initially fined by the league.The WNBA rescinded the fines after a public backlash.It is almost economically impossible to ignore todays athletes as the power they wield reaches further than their bank accounts.James is worth millions of dollars to the Cleveland economy as the success of the Cavaliers motivates thousands of people to spend. The Cavs attendance ranked No. 2 in the league in 2009-10 and the past two seasons but dipped as low as No. 22 during James four years with the Miami Heat.Athletes influence goes beyond promoting merchandise and ticket sales.Social media allows athletes to directly communicate with millions of followers with a few keystrokes. Edwards explained that ISIS has used social media in a similar way to recruit self-radicalized people. The difference is in the message.Dr. Joseph Cooper, an assistant professor at the University of Connecticut, echoed Edwards in saying any major social policy -- civil rights movement, feminist movement, passage of Title IX -- began with multiple conversations.But there must be action behind the words. Both said that is the next step in the process.Cooper called for sustained engagement from athletes on whatever level they are comfortable -- such as continuing the conversation, meeting with groups like Black Lives Matter, the NAACP and 100 Black Men, and identifying specific issues and targeting ways to improve them. Cooper also discussed the need to have benchmarks in which progress can be measured.All these athletes say we care about the Black Lives Matter movement. In a year from now, we want to see that youve actually been continuing in championing the support, Cooper said. Muhammad Alis legacy is a great example of how he didnt rest on his laurels in making one decision and saying OK, thats enough.In a concise manner, the steps forward are sustained engagement. What that looks like for each individual athlete and each community will be different. But it definitely involves tangible action, civic responsibility and engagement and accountability measures. The call for accountability has to be followed up with actual consequences if certain things arent done.Edwards said sports have become a religion in this country and around the world, giving athletes more influence than in the past. He believes as walking corporations they carry more weight than the doctor up the street or the lawyer around the corner or even the community organizer.Sports in modern societies really amount to secular religions, Edwards said. Athletes have a phenomenal megaphone. ... 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Great Britains mens 4x100 metres relay quartet avoided the baton blunders which have plagued them over recent seasons to coast into the final of the European Championships on a night of two more bronze medals for the team in Amsterdam.A strong line-up of James Dasaolu, Adam Gemili, James Ellington and Chijindu Ujah took no risks with safe changeovers to come home in the European-leading time of 38.12 seconds and qualify fastest for Sundays final at the Olympic Stadium.Steph Twell then battled to bronze over 5,000 metres, her first major medal since a third-placed finish at the 2010 Commonwealth Games following a succession of injury problems, and Julian Reid secured a bitter-sweet third-placed finish in the triple jump.Britains men may be the defending sprint relay champions in the Dutch capital, but their recent relay record makes sorry reading.They have been disqualified from the last four global championships, including London 2012, and most recently at last years World Championships in Beijing after which team members turned on each other.They are after a clean run in Amsterdam to ensure they head to the Olympics in Rio in the best possible form to take on Jamaica and the United States.Ellington, who finished fifth in the individual 100m, said: We just wanted to get it around as smoothly as possible. I think those bends are really tight in lane one as well, so to run 38.12 in the semi-final gives us a lot of confidence heading into the final.Ujah bore the brunt of his team-mates criticism in Beijing, but the tensions which spilled over on that occasion now appear to have been settled.Gemili, who withdrew from the individual 100m to focus on the relay, said: We are all running very fast so we are pushing each other to make the team.The womens quartet of Asha Philip, newly-crowned Europeann 200m champion Dina Asher-Smith, Bianca Williams and Daryll Neita also enjoyed serene progress in 42.dddddddddddd59secs.There was happy news too for Twell, a former world junior 1500m champion whose promising career was hampered by a badly broken ankle in 2011 and then a foot injury which ruled her out of London 2012.She dug in to clinch bronze over 5,000m, coming home in 15:20.70, just 0.16 behind Swedens Meraf Bahta. Laura Whittle was fifth and Eilish McColgan sixth.Britain are favourites for all four relays here and the 4x400m teams too are determined to make statements of intent ahead of the Olympics.Both quartets ran European-leading times, despite not fielding full-strength line-ups, to breeze into their respective finals.The womens team of Eilidh Doyle, Margaret Adeoye, Kelly Massey and Seren Bundy-Davies clocked 3:26.42, while the mens four of Rabah Yousif, Delano Williams, Nigel Levine and Jarryd Dunn came home in 3:01.63.Britain won world bronze in both events in Beijing and believe they are well placed to make the podium again in Brazil.The men can bring in the likes of two-time European champion Martyn Rooney and British champion Matthew Hudson-Smith, while the women can still call on British number one Emily Diamond, European bronze medallist Anyika Onuora and two-time world champion Christine Ohuruogu.Robbie Grabarz and Chris Baker made equally light work of high jump qualifying, Grabarz producing three first-time clearances and Baker four to achieve the automatic qualifying mark of 2.25m.Andy Pozzi was forced to pull out of the 110m hurdles final, feeling a cramp in his calf during the warm-up and sensibly not taking any fitness risks ahead of Rio. 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