A public protest means nothing if you don’t take the right steps to support the cause and Miami Dolphins players are making sure their voices are heard. Arian Foster, Kenny Stills, Jelani Jenkins and Michael Thomas all decided to kneel during the National Anthem of their game against Seattle because of social inequalities Blacks face daily. These four are putting some actions behind their kneeling as they take the next step to help bridge the gap.
With support from RISE (The Ross Initiative in Sports for Equality), community leaders, police officers and team personnel of the Dolphins were all invited to a Dolphins Town Hall meeting to bring forth the issues we are dealing with and to start addressing them with hopes of finding a solution or at least common ground.
According to MiamiHerald.com, Kaleb Thornhill (Dolphins Director of Player Engagement), says this was a proactive action.
“In terms of what happened the players that chose to take a knee really wanted some conversation and dialogue to happen. Obviously they wanted awareness but they also wanted to do something proactive and doing something within the community and reaching out and being part of the solution.”
This is a step in the right direction. I hope these four Dolphins and all other public figures continue to stand for what they believe in.