colin kaepernick
-
Colin Kaepernick’s Latest Move Might Make Him the Realest Negus Alive
Negus (noun): king, ruler—used as a title of the sovereign of Ethiopia, according to Merriam-Webster. Former NFL quarterback-turned-activist Colin Kaepernick was 2017’s undisputed winner for America’s blackest man with his protest against the killings of unarmed black, men, women and children by police (from 2008 until 2016, the title was held by former President Barack…
-
O.J. Simpson Agrees With Trump on Colin Kaepernick’s Protest, but I’m Going to Need O.J. to STFU About Everything Black-Related
Unless O.J. Simpson wants to talk about running a football in the ’70s, or how he handled himself in prison, or how he fooled everyone into thinking he was black during the trial of the century, I’m going to need him to shut the fuck up about the work that Colin Kaepernick is doing. Currently,…
-
Watch: Who Will Kneel for You? Artists Speak Out
The Super Bowl may have been noticeably devoid of on-field protests, but the multiple “head injuries” within the game itself were a not-so-subtle reminder of the controversies that led to the low ratings of the 2017 NFL season. In this video, Danny Glover, Anna Deavere Smith and a chorus of other artists recite “To Kneel”…
-
I Successfully Didn’t Watch the 2018 Super Bowl. Here’s What That Struggle Looked Like
Because I decided long ago not to watch the NFL this season, not watching the Super Bowl was an easy, if annoying, decision. I love the Super Bowl. I love how we pretend that it truly matters in the grand scheme of things. I love the commercials and the halftime shows and all that jazz.…
-
A Prayer of Congregation for Those of Us Who’ve Made It to the Super Bowl Without Watching the NFL All Season
If you know like I know, bow your heads. Dear 8-pound, 6-ounce, newborn baby Jesus, don’t even know a word yet, just a little infant, so cuddly but still omnipotent, I come to you with a prayer of silent struggle. For it is only by your grace that I and many like myself have managed…
-
It’s a Week Before the Super Bowl, and the Biggest Story in Sports Is a … Draft for the NBA All-Star Game?
Football is still America’s most popular sport. And the NFL our biggest and most popular sports league. But while the NFL’s status as the king of America’s sports hill remains, I don’t remember its position ever being as precarious. To wit, each of the biggest NFL-related stories of the year has been extremely unflattering to…
-
Colin Kaepernick Has Done More for the 99 Percent Than the President of the United States
Other than keeping the few black and brown workers at KFC busy filling his order for a bucket of chicken and employing the once-great-and-now-fallen Dr. Ben Carson, what has President Supremacy von AgentOrangeFace done for black America—or, more importantly, for the black America that isn’t among the 1 percent? I’m actually not being facetious here;…
-
The Biggest Winners of 2017
With everything—and everyone—we lost in this past year, there were some big wins. Black women showed up and showed out in various ways. Black men put their careers and livelihoods on the line to speak out against racial injustice, police violence, and sexual assault and harassment. Creative artists experienced amazing glow ups, and black teenagers…
-
Habari Gani?! Nia! Colin Kaepernick Embodied Purpose in 2017
This year, for each day of Kwanzaa, The Root is highlighting one person from the community who exemplifies the principle of the day. On the fifth day of Kwanzaa, Dec. 30, the principle is Nia, or “purpose.” To practice Nia is to make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order…