USA TODAY International Edition

Kaepernick addresses police brutality issue

- Mike Freeman

During Black History Month, with the series 28 Black Stories in 28 days, USA TODAY Sports examines the issues, challenges and opportunit­ies Black athletes and sports officials face after the nation’s reckoning on race in 2020.

During the first installmen­t of the Snapchat series “Colin Kaepernick VS The World,” a flashy and, basically, rudimentar­y telling of Kaepernick’s story, there’s one point where the show hits its high mark. It’s when the series flashed back to the Rodney King beating in 1991.

The co- founder of Black Lives Matter, Alicia Garza, reflects on a core truth rippling decades after that awful moment. In the years to come, versions of the King assault would repeat in many different instances of police brutality across the country. Over and over and over again. And it would get worse.

“I don’t think that Rodney King and his brutal beating was a defining moment for Colin’s generation like it was for mine,” Garza says. “But here we are, several years later, and we’re still facing the same kinds of violence and brutality.”

This was the best part of the first chapter.

We know Kaepernick’s story, but what’s often lost is that Kaepernick took his brave stand because he was energized, and enraged, by history.

His protest wasn’t just about what was happening at the time. It was his knowledge of just how systemic this problem was. Police brutality was a never- ending “Groundhog Day” of ugly violence against Black and brown people.

Kaepernick felt enough was enough and in the end gave up his NFL career to fight it.

Snapchat says the eight- episode series will show the rise of Kaepernick and how he became a symbol of fighting for racial justice. It premiered on Super Bowl weekend, and new episodes are scheduled to premier every other day.

Some of the people Snapchat interviewe­d, like Garza, are big names in the social justice movement. The series also interviews journalist­s who have covered the issue extensivel­y.

The second installmen­t continues to dive into issues of police abuse, including the case of Eric Garner. It also shows the rise of Kaepernick on the field.

The first episode, at least, assumes you know little or nothing about Kaepernick. Parts of it feel extremely basic. Then it gets deep when addressing the core reasons why Kaepernick protested.

That’s when it gets good. Really good.

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