Olden Polynice, shown in the file photo, went on a hunger strike while playing for the Detroit Pistons in 1993 to protest the treatment of Haitian refugees. They’d started a hunger strike in hope of shaming the Clinton administration into processing and freeing them as what they were, asylum seekers. The Haiti inherited by President George W. Bush suffered the deposing of an elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide. But at home during the all-star break, just a week or 10 days into his protest, Polynice recalled: “I stood up to go to the bathroom, and boom! That’s what hurts more than anything else.”It was reported by many at the time that Polynice was the first professional athlete to engage in a hunger strike during that athlete’s season.

Source: Washington Post January 13, 2018 23:20 UTC