Although Colin Kaepernick is a free agent, he continues to use his platform to shine a light on the matters that affect our communities, every day.
Kaepernick’s journey started in 2016 when he would kneel for the National Anthem, before the National Football League games, as a silent protest against social injustice.
“I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,” Kaepernick said. “To me, this is bigger than football, and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.”
This protest would soon cost Kaepernick his job as an NFL quarterback, who played six seasons for the San Francisco 49ers and led his team to the Super Bowl in 2013. He was exiled from the league and blackballed if you will. 5 years later the league continues on without him.
During his absence, some players have kneeled in solidarity while other protest and boycott the big game.
Many have asked well… what has Kaepernick done for the community since?
He has donated $1 million dollars to different charities across the country. Kaepernick also launched his Know Your Rights campaign to “raise awareness on higher education, self-empowerment, and instructions on to properly interact with law enforcement is various.” During the height of the pandemic, he started the coronavirus relief fund to aid black and brown communities who “are disproportionately devasted by COVID-19 because of hundreds of years of structural racism.”
Following the death of George Floyd, who was murdered by a white police officer, demonstrators turned to Kaepernick’s gesture. Taking a knee. This gesture would soon gain power as people from around the world would kneel as a “peaceful way to say you’re not OK with what’s happening.”
A 19-year old marcher spoke of Kaepernick by saying this:
“He did what a lot of other athletes wouldn’t have done. It took a lot of guts for him to do that, a lot of heart. He knows what the community needs, It needs that strength. He was saying to stand up for what you believe in, no matter your position.”
