One of the many lame retorts about Colin Kaepernick’s protest is that he is all talk and no action. When the reality is he’s putting his money where his mouth is.
All we can hope for is this next generation isn’t as hateful, racist and prejudice as this current one. One way to make sure that doesn’t happen is to reach out to them and that is what Kaepernick is doing, not just with his kneeling but by doing things like this.
Marcus Thompson of the Mercury News writes an excellent piece on what Kaepernick was up to during his bye week.
“The work we put in is here,” Kaepernick said Saturday, describing the rush he got standing on stage, absorbing the hope in the eyes of the youth seated before him. “The fact that the kids were here and they’re excited, that meant a lot. To see how attentive the kids were and how engaged they were. To me that was powerful.”
Some 100 youth from about 19 organizations across the Bay Area convened at Impact Hub Oakland for what they called “Know Yours Rights Camp.”
“He cares. I can just tell,” said A.J. Gilbert, 14, a freshman at Albany High School. “He’s not one of those conceited stars.”
“He speaks for me,” San Francisco middle schooler Dayvon Hann, 12, wearing his three-week-old Kaepernick jersey. “He is just a good person who helps a lot of people.”
He was involved from planning to execution. A series of workshops and speakers, selected by Kaepernick, covered nutrition and health, financial knowledge, higher education options, law enforcement history and police interaction advice, and love for self and community.
So while high-profile athletes like Ray Lewis, Carmelo Anthony and Charles Barkley speak out against Kaepernick, he is out in the streets doing the work they are accusing him of not doing.
Funny how that works.
Here is the opening to @Kaepernick7 “KNOW YOUR RIGHTS” event for underprivileged youth and homeless in Oakland, Richmond and San Francisco. pic.twitter.com/qn2d51OldM
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpearsESPN) October 29, 2016