Without a word, Kaepernick’s message is powerful
The conversation continues.
In bars, at dinner tables and parties, in line for coffee.
People are angry, interested, offended, supportive, intrigued, irritated.
But — in one form or another — the conversation continues. The one that Colin Kaepernick started 16 months ago.
On Monday, Kaepernick was named GQ magazine’s “Citizen of the Year.” Which meant that his face, his cause, his exclusion from the NFL — his now-iconic image that I’m quite sure will last far into this century as a recognizable symbol for peaceful protest — was back in the news.
Kevin Durant was also recognized by GQ as its “Champion of the Year.” On Monday, the Warriors’ forward said he was honored to share the magazine with Kaepernick.
“He started a conversation that was needed in this country,” Durant said. “He knew he would take a lot of heat for what he did. He stood up for people who can’t stand up for
themselves.
“As athletes, we’re taught to kind of shut up and play our sport,” Durant added. “He put everything on the line. You’ve got to respect it. We all stand behind him as athletes. He makes us proud to be part of the athletic community.”
Durant’s comments came two days after his teammate Stephen Curry posted a thoughtful piece on the Players’ Tribune, timed for Veterans Day. Entitled “The Noise,” Curry wrote about what it means to have a platform. What it means to accuse peaceful protestors of “disrespecting the military.”
“Every single veteran I’ve spoken to, they’ve all said pretty much the exact same thing: That this conversation we’ve started to have in the world of sports ... whether it’s been Colin kneeling, or entire NFL teams finding their own ways to show unity, or me saying that I didn’t want to go to the White House — it’s the
opposite of disrespectful to them,” Curry wrote.
“A lot of them have said that even if they don’t totally agree with every position of every person, this is exactly the thing that they fought to preserve: the freedom of every American to express our struggles, our fears, our frustrations and our dreams for a more equal society.”
Curry went on to plea for real help for veterans, not just “thank you for your service.”
“If I’m going to use my platform, I don’t want to just be noise. I want to use it to talk about real issues that are affecting real people.”
A proposed Veterans Day weekend boycott of the NFL, by people offended by protests, didn’t materialize. But neither has a follow-up meeting between the NFL and involved players, including Kaepernick. Meanwhile, bad quarterbacking continues to derail once-promising teams. And Kaepernick remains out of work.
Kaepernick chose not to be interviewed by GQ. He wanted to participate in the magazine piece in order to — according to the editors — “reclaim the narrative of his protest” that he feels has been hijacked by those with political agendas. Kaepernick didn’t add his voice to “the noise” about which Curry wrote.
People want him to speak but, for now, his silence has been powerful. No one can twist his words or criticize his statements, or turn them into GIFs or memes on social media.
His actions have spoken loudly, as he continues to support — through money and actions — groups that serve the disenfranchised. His inability to get a job speaks even more loudly.
Instead, others spoke to GQ about him. Filmmaker Ava DuVernay wrote, “Look at this brother — he’s doing better than any of us would’ve done. A lot better. With a lot more elegance.” Rapper J.Cole said, “he sacrificed his career.”
Ameer Hasan Loggins wrote about how Kaepernick came to his class at Cal, with his “little notebook and pencil,” driving up from San Jose to attend every week.
“We’ve decided the conversation leans on ‘Does Colin want to be an activist, or does he want to be an athlete?’ ” Loggins wrote. “As if the two cannot happen simultaneously. You can care about people and play sports. Athletes do it all the time. The problem is that his particular activism was toward the cause of blackness. That’s what he’s being ostracized for.”
Civil-rights activist Harry Belafonte also was included in the piece.
“Not being ‘political’ is not a solution,” Belafonte wrote. “Any young person who takes that position would have to ask Muhammad Ali and Jackie Robinson and so many of us if we had anything at stake.”
Kaepernick’s former 49ers teammate, Eric Reid, also had a voice.
“These issues are real,” he said. “And people know they’re real. But some will do anything to distract from that, to change the narrative, and it’s gotten Colin blackballed from the NFL.
“The Bible talks very explicitly in Proverbs about being the voice of the voiceless and speaking up for the vulnerable. Another verse is: ‘Faith without works is dead.’ I guess selfishly I’m trying to get to heaven.”
Kaepernick has been the voice of the voiceless. He doesn’t have to say a word, and yet the conversation continues.