The Audacity of Colin Kaepernick
How Nike reignited the national focus on the NFL, racism and police brutality.

When I think about what the night before that game must have been like, I imagine it must have been restless. I picture Colin’s mind ping-ponging back and forth between what he could lose by speaking out and what he could gain by stepping up.
However, I think he felt what many of us felt as he watched video after video of black men, women and children being murdered in the line of duty by standard issued police weapons; that like the rest of us, Colin Kaepernick helplessly asked, what could he do?
He probably felt the same nervous energy he felt on his very first day as Quarterback when he stepped onto that field. Maybe he looked around at the cheering crowds one last time and soaked in their adoration while knowing they would soon turn on him. And, as the Anthem blared, he dropped to the ground on his knee.
And, in that moment, just like Michael Brown probably felt on the concrete that day with a gun pointed at him with the cop’s nervous finger on the trigger; nothing would ever be the same. For anyone.
“Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything.”
-Colin Kaepernick
The goal of his kneeling protest was to bring attention to excessive police brutality. And, Colin Kaepernick, former San Francisco 49er’s Quarterback, hasn’t played football since 2016. He has become an activist and symbol of civic and social injustice. He also filed a grievance against the NFL, alleging the league conspired to keep him out because of his protest. Recently, an arbiter ruled there is sufficient evidence for the case to proceed to trial.
Nike named Colin Kaepernick as one of the faces of its 30th Anniversary commemoration of its iconic, “Just Do It" slogan. It reignited the controversy and debate just before the start of the 2018 football season.
The original message and purpose of the protest has become convoluted with many threatening to boycott Nike for its support of Colin Kaepernick citing disrespect to the military.
According to a report by the Washington Post, there were 963 people shot and killed in 2016 by fatal force. There were 987 in 2017 and already 679 in 2018.
That is 2,629 killed since Colin Kaepernick took a knee.
Why is the NFL the landscape for this type of protest?
Because so many young black men wake up to a football under their Christmas tree or unwrap it as a birthday gift. And, they bond with other young men while tossing it from one side of their street to another trying to perfect their catch and develop their arm. They join their high school football team and win trophies while trying to impress the girl of their dreams. Some are fortunate to go onto College Football with scholarships.
But, only a chosen few will ever step onto a field and play for the National Football league.
Every one of those men knows how lucky he is that a bullet didn’t stop his opportunity.
And, when those men aren’t playing the game of football, they visit their family in those same neighborhoods they spent their youth dreaming of being the Star they are now. They see the little boys tossing those footballs just like they used to with dreams of an athletic future.
What is wrong with them using their platform to make it possible?
Being an unapologetic black person with dreams and goals in America is a silent protest.
I don’t just stand with Kaepernick. I kneel with every Mother and Father who sends their child out and prays for their safe return.
Bravo to Nike for acknowledging that we all put our sneakers on one foot at a time.
