Kaevon Merriweather, Logan Lee Share Special Experience

 Iowa defensive lineman Logan Lee cherishes his conversations with position coach Kelvin Bell. The life discussions are more impactful than talking football. 

Race is a topic. Bell is a black man from Mississippi. Lee is white and hails from a small town in Illinois with an African-American population of two percent. 

The Hawkeyes have become more open to understanding each other during the last two years. There's an awareness about equality after the program was found to be racially bias in an external review during the summer of 2020. It confirmed an internal review from two years earlier.  

The realization that Iowa needed change on the heels of George Floyd's murder sparked Lee's curiosity. Bell shared his thoughts on promoting progress. 

"He's always told me to have empathy instead of sympathy," Lee said. "Putting yourself in somebody else's shoes so you can feel what they feel rather than feeling bad for them. A lot of us try to have sympathy. And like coach Bell says, that's not what brings about growth and that's not what people are looking for." 

Lee jumped at an opportunity to learn more this summer. He and teammate Kaevon Merriweather took part in a Big Ten initiative that brought them to Selma and Montgomery, Alabama, where a historic civil rights march happened in 1965. 

"We learned a lot. It's kind of shocking to see how little information is accurately represented in our history books in school," Lee said. "There's not a whole lot that I learned about in school that was covered on this trip, a lot of the dialogue, the interpersonal communication. That's some of the stuff that resonates the most with people. 

"That wasn't even touched on in the textbooks. So I would say that lack of education and lack of information we get were some of the main things that were brought to light by the trip." 

Merriweather has been influential in helping the Hawkeyes move forward since '20. He led a video series for the program in February during Black History Month. He's immersed himself in learning about the past. Traveling to Alabama in July captivated him. 

"Having the opportunity to go down there was surreal to me," Merriweather said. "What stuck out to me, what I appreciated was getting to talk to those who were actually part of the march, who took that walk from Selma to Montgomery, who were part of Bloody Sunday.

"They talked about their protests and those of 2020 when police used rubber bullets and tear gas like back then. They said we've made so much progress, and I agree, but we still have so much more that we need to do." 

Merriweather spoke out on social media during the summer of '20 about kneeling during the national anthem at Kinnick Stadium. He, some of his teammates and Bell have waged their protest during the song the last two seasons. 

"For those folks that marched all the way back then to still be seeing some of the same atrocities that they saw back then is just crazy," Merriweather said. 

He and Lee were joined on the trip by fellow Iowa student-athletes Armando Bryson (track), Amiya Jones (volleyball) and Manuela Lizarazu (women’s golf). The experience brought them closer together. 

"We were able to interact with each other and get other perspectives," Lee said. "You don't always hear those perspectives unless they're right in front of you. It sparked conversation. My perspective has changed a ton being able to gain so much knowledge. It's helped me interact with more guys now." 

During the video series last February, Merriweather and his teammates researched different parts of Black History. They shared what they found with each other and fellow Hawkeyes. 

"Always trying to find knowledge is something that's helped me the last couple of years, just continuing my education on the topic and on the issue," he said. 

Lee and Merriweather were thankful the trip strengthened their bond. 

"Kaevon and I were able to get pretty close because of this," Lee said. "We've hung out before. We've talked. But we hadn't spend a whole lot of time together before the trip. So, it was pretty cool just getting to know him more and hear some of the experiences he's gone through."