Search the Community

Cynique I guess neither of can truly know what is in the brother head. However as time goes on his value to the NFL declines. He is not more of a scapegoat than a martyr. Even with the book deal, Colin took a big financial hit and accolades don't pay bills. Besides all successful quarterback get book deals, and I'm not sure how will the book will do given the fact white men will probably not support it very well. The long term prospects of the NFL look very good they are looking to expand into foreign markets and revenue growth looks good as well. I'm also not holding my breath waiting for any ad buys on this the largest website dedicated to books written by or about Black people.

@Troy I don't give a lot weight to the profound long term effect of a boycott. It would just pit black boycotters against retaliatory white boycotters inspired to show loyalty to those who cherish the American flag - as a symbol of white dominance. Black people don't attend NFL games in great numbers so that would have no huge impact, and whether TV advertisers dropped these games would depend whether their sales plummeted because of black consumers not buying their products; something that white consumers could again offset. Never under estimate white people flexing their muscles when it comes to those who mess with the revered symbols they associate with making America great. Currently, I don't think Kaepernick even cares about securing a spot on a NFL team anymore. To me, he scored a moral victory and became an award-winning folk hero and is in a position to take his concerns into another area. And, as courageous as the actions of Ali and Smith and Carlos were, I don't know that they had a great impact on change when it came to black men.... @Coach Michael Taylor I suggest to you, that there are millions of black males who have followed your common sense advice on their own, and are doing OK for themselves. They are who make up the black middleclass. But some things never change. While they are managing to survive in their glass-ceiling jobs and as business entrepreneurs, owning nice homes, maintaining 401Ks, sending their kids to college, their nice cars rather than being assets, can become liabilities in the "driving while black" zone that is a real, not an imagined victimization. Obama reached the pinnacle of achievement, but he was still the victim of racism. It ain't easy being black. Optimism can only take you so far.

Look, we all know Kaepernick's action will not have any impact whatsoever -- indeed it can be viewed as a catalyst for making things worse. From day one I always asserted that nothing short of a boycott of the NFL will make any difference, but again we will never take this action. Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their fists during the 1968 olympics, a seminal -- arguably a more profound action -- which has resonated for 50 years, but nonetheless has resulted in no significant change. Muhammad Ali knowingly sacrificed his career and risked imprisonment refusing to go to Nam. Kaepernick's action, while commendable, does not rise to Ali's actions. Let's keep things in perspective. Colin was just some dude who got uppity, forgot who he worked for, and was summarily dismissed as a result (@Cynique wouldn't that meet your definition for "loser?") @Coach Michael Taylor, people were already aware of police brutality -- it is constantly covered in the media. @Cynique, sure he agitated the country but his message and goal of his agitation was lost. I was at a sporting event (car racing) recently and some red neck said everyone one here better stand for the flag. Again the meaning of Collins kneeling completely lost. You can not use the tools of the master to effect change -- it is impossible. Colin tried to use the NFL has a platform and they erased him and used the media to pervert his message -- even sending in the VP of the United States to walk out on a game in protest -- taking Kaepernick's protest and twisting it into an issue of patriotism. If we had conscious Black-owned media perhaps the people actually doing things of consequence would be uplifted and celebrated and maybe Colin would still have a job entertaining, and enriching, the white folks who obviously don't give a shit about him or any of us.

I have to agree with Cynique. Although the impact of his protest may not be immediately apparent, his protest impacted the consciousness of this country in profound ways. It brought awareness to some very basic facts. There are still lots of people who are racists, our government isn't capable of addressing racial issues and our current president is absolutely clueless when it comes to race relations. But I still believe in the goodness of people and I still believe in this country. As an optimist, I believe his protest actually accomplished his goal of bringing awareness to the issue of police brutality and eventually America will live up to the creed that all men are created equal. I stand with Kaepernick!

Colin Kaepernick may not have affected widespread change in the life of black America at large, but as i continue to stress, he DRAMATIZED a grievance and agitated the country. The fact that he is still a relevant topic of conversation is, in itself, is a victory! What he accomplished was to embarrass America into to realizing that its beloved flag doesn't live up to its promises. That is the implicit take-away from his bending a knee and this makes patriotic Americans extremely uncomfortable. That's a good thing in what is becoming a fascistic country. Nobody really believed his demonstration would suddenly turn racists cops into Office Friendlys, but without lifting a finger, Kaepernick became a thorn in the side those, who in all of their white law and order privilege, consider the boys in blue to be heroic paragons. Furthermore, NFL players and owners were all forced to do some soul searching and this may yet have a trickle-down effect.

America is riddled with folk lore about larger than life heroes who sprang from the ranks (and imaginations) of the common man. And, of course, there are biblical characters who have been extolled in verse and sermon. Donald Trump is currently filling a need for resentful people fearing the status their white skin color guarantees is in jeopardy, thanks to the politically-correct and bleeding-heart liberal crowd. In every time of crises the masses look for a "man on a white horse" to appear and deliver them from impending doom.. Obama briefly filled this role for blacks but his sheen has gradually dulled. Colin Kaepernick stole a little bit of this shine but he has few successes to his credit. Also missing the mark are star athletes who marry white women and lend their names to a line of exorbitantly-priced gym shoes. So, as usual, blacks are floundering around looking for a Messsiah, but left with nothing but martyrs snatched from the populace of young males shot in the back while fleeing their misdemeanors. Or, embracing an irrelevant comic book figure like Black Panther whose alter-ego Chadwick Boseman was savvy enough to present the MTV Award he won for favorite movie hero to James Shaw, the ordinary Joe who single-handedly disarmed a shooter on a rampage, and just happened to be sitting in the audience at this TV event And so it goes. Black people continue to shuffle around claiming this one or that one to really be black, this place or that place to actually be the country of Mankind's black mama. Too bad we weren't "evil" enough to subdue our adversaries so we could enforce black supremacy and lie about how great we are. OK. Back to my perch, and the bird's eye view that provides me a good opportunity to spot any UFOs that decide to re-visit Earth and take me back home. I'm world-weary. Trumpism is stifling me.

Del you should widen your source of information everything you share just reinforces what you (what we all) want to believe). The reality is Trump is not going anywhere before the end of the year -- even if he is completely guilty. The wheels of justice turn slowly... if at all. Meanwhile time the Warner monopoly has been approved, net neutrality shut down, facebook owns social media and is working on destroying the rest of the web, and colin Kaepernick has been banned from playing football and no one cares

Del the reason is, as Paul Mooney would probably say, "Tim Tebow is not a nigger." QueenX, still I believe Colin would have found another way to deal with police brutality if thought his relatively innocuous action would have resulted in his dismissal. I'd also bet if he did this prior to the "era of 45," he would have gotten away with it -- it still wouldn't have made a difference -- but he'd probably still be in the NFL. So no, I can't jump on the worship Colin bandwagon, because there are countless unheralded heroes grinding, everyday, making a difference in our communities, and no one sings their praises. We all know them, you might even be one. Again we can't use the oppressor's platforms as a tool for our liberation. In fact NOT using them is the best way to make a change. Imagine if Black folks stop watching and betting on football -- for just one season. Supposed we (and all out allies) took it a step further and boycotted all the NFL sponsors? Imagine the impact.

Are you aware of any policies that have changed as a direct result of Colin's taking a knee? EXCELLENT QUESTION! And the answer to that question determines the effectiveness of Colin's actions. It's a shame but those mostly Caucasian kids from the Parkland highschool shooting have been more effective in changing legislation and striking fear in the hearts of their adversaries in just their 4 or 5 months of demonstrating than AfroAmerican NFL players have been in their YEARS of kneeling and locking arms and begging for understanding. Why? Because those kids aren't going from school to school across America urinating on flags or bowing down and taking knees infront of flag poles nor are they making music videos where they dance around half naked........ In other words they aren't wasting time with confusing indirect methods that are basically useless except for pissing people off. But what they ARE doing is taking DIRECT ACTION by calling out the local and national legislators as well as those in the media who are promoting guns and feeding gun violence.

@Coach Michael Taylor, I'm not convinced there is a binary response to your question. Perhaps the answer is neither. From a personal perspective Colin's actions, outside of providing fodder for conversation, have not had an impact on my life, one way or the other. I'm sure the likelihood of being gunned down by law enforcement has not changed. Are you aware of any policies that have changed as a direct result of Colin's taking a knee? Do you think Colin, in his heart of hearts, would have taken a knee if he knew it would result in his being Blackballed from the NFL? Maybe he would have found an more effective way to effect change.

It’s been approximately two years since Colin Kaepernick decided not to stand for the national anthem to bring awareness and to protest against police brutality. His peaceful protest has garnered support and criticism from people of all races and political affiliations around the world and it has definitely shined the light on the issue of race here in America. In an effort to keep NFL protesters from following in Colin’s footsteps, the NFL recently implemented a new policy that condemns players from protesting from the sidelines during the national anthem. The league will issue a fine to any player who they judge is “disrespecting” the flag by not standing. As an alternative, the league says a player has the right to protest, but to do so he must stay in the locker room if he is unwilling to stand during the anthem. This new policy contradicts everything America is supposed to stand for. The 1st Amendment clearly states: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. Herein lies the hypocrisy of the leagues new policy. The founding fathers felt it was important to give every human being the freedom and the right to free speech and peaceful protest. Yet the new policy does just the opposite. It punishes players who are exercising their constitutional rights. On the surface it appears this country is headed in the wrong direction in regards to race. We have a president who refuses to condemn the actions of a neo-Nazi hate group, we have far too many incidences of police brutality, we have black men being arrested in coffee shops simply because of the color of their skin and we have a country that has not figured out that diversity is actually its greatest asset. Based on these things alone I can understand why there is so much pessimism and negativity in regards to race. And yet I remain optimistic about the future of race relations in this country. I remain optimistic because of people like Colin Kaepernick. People who choose to take a stand (or a knee) for something and are willing to do whatever it takes to insure that this country lives up to its promise of being land of the free and home of the brave. I’m reminded of a quote by Dr. Steven Covey from his bestselling book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People in which he stated, “seek first to understand, and then be understood.” This quote truly captures how American society could address race relations going forward, and use Colin’s protest as an opportunity for growth and transformation. At first glance, it is understandable why so many people are upset about Colin not standing for the national anthem. To some, it appears that he is disrespecting the flag and this country. This is the result of mainstream media focusing on some comments made by the current president. Here are just a few of his comments which took the issue away from police brutality and reframed it into an issue of disrespecting the flag. "Wouldn't you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, 'Get that son of a b---- off the field right now. Out. He's fired! He's fired!'" Yes, that is a direct quote from the president of the United States! Although the protest was never about disrespecting the flag or our country, once the president made that comment the media ran with it and it didn’t take long for his comments to become the focus of the protest. If we are willing to look a little deeper and fully understand the motives of his protest we would see that it has always been about the unnecessary killing of black men in America and in no way does that disrespect our country. As I am reminded of the incidences of police brutality against black men in this country, I can immediately empathize with Colin’s protest. I can relate to his anger, frustration, and sadness about watching too many men of color needlessly lose their lives, and then have their perpetrators walk away without being held accountable for their actions. Understanding breeds compassion, and if we are willing to simply see this point of view, then we can recognize that this is the core of his protest. No matter how the media attempts to frame Colin’s demonstration, I believe this is the primary reason he refused to stand. This leads us to the question: Is Colin’s protest unpatriotic? Herein is the great American hypocrisy. The dictionary defines a patriot as: “a person who vigorously supports their country and is prepared to defend it against enemies or detractors.” Isn’t this exactly what Colin is attempting to do? He recognizes that American citizens are being killed and he is taking a stand against this crisis. How can this be viewed as unpatriotic? His actions are the highest form of patriotism. He is willing to not only sacrifice his livelihood for what he believes, he is actually willing to put his life on the line (he has received several death threats) in an attempt to make America better by bringing attention to the fact that too many men of color are being senselessly and unnecessarily killed. According to Mike Freeman of Bleacher Report (www.bleacherreport.com), several NFL league officials actually hate Colin and his stance. Here are just a few quotes from top NFL officials: "I don't want him anywhere near my team," one executive told Freeman. "He's a traitor." Said another exec, "He has no respect for our country. F— that guy." And from a general manager, "In my career, I have never seen a guy so hated by front office guys as Kaepernick." So, is it patriotic for a man to be hated simply because he is attempting to stop the killing of innocent Americans? Think about that for a moment. In regards to the military, this is what they fight for. Service men and women fight for our right to speak out, defend our country, and use our freedom of speech to help improve this country. They aren’t fighting for us to be silent when it comes to addressing issues within the confines of America. If we aren’t willing to speak out to make America better, should that not be considered unpatriotic? In a lot of ways, the Colin Kaepernick story is a microcosm of being a black man in America. On one hand, if we take a stand and speak out against social injustice, we are accused of being angry black men who hate America. On the other hand, if we aren’t attempting to resolve the problems in our own communities, we are called lazy and indifferent to the challenges of black men in America. As I’ve watched and listened to some of the opinions voiced by black men, I can only imagine how difficult it must be for Colin. There are some black men who attacked and vilified him for his stance while others embraced and supported his decision to protest. As a man who happens to be black, I can definitely relate to this conundrum. For most of my life, I have been accused of being a sellout because of my optimism and belief that nothing is impossible if you put your mind to it, even if you’re black. I have been criticized, ostracized, and accused of being blind to the challenges facing black men in this country. Sometimes it feels like a no win situation. But you can’t please everyone, so it’s important to be clear on what you stand for and not be affected by the thoughts and opinions of others. And now I would like to answer the question I posed at the beginning: Is Colin Kaepernick helping or hurting black men in America? I believe he is definitely helping black men, and more importantly, he is helping America. I say this because his actions ignited a debate about police brutality and race and a few years from now, I believe he will be recognized and acknowledged for his willingness to take a stand (or in this case a knee) against an issue that has been pushed under the American rug for far too long. In the long run, I believe he will be recognized as a powerful change agent whose actions moved this country forward and ultimately created the change he wanted to see. Thank you, Colin Kaepernick for teaching me that you do not necessarily have to stand up in order to love your country. You can kneel and love your country even when most people around you will accuse you of being a traitor. I choose to kneel with you!

Hi, I sure do hope Colins can play football professionally again, especially because I heard he was very talented. Also, I just recently looked back at some links about some of the cases such as Trayvon Martin and Castile, and I coulda kicked myself... I became drawn into it and couldn't pull myself away for some time, and it was so emotionally draining and depressing. I had planned to look back over this kind of news by setting aside time, but I kept putting it off, until, I heard about the recent news of M. Zimmermann being sommoned for stalking. I've learned so much that I had not known and, as sad as it may be about Colin's career, I gotta tell ya, I understand why he did it; took a knee. What is going on in the world today, especially America, is surreal.

In addition to starting our own leagues. We could have simply boycotted the NFL. But obviously we don't care enough about what Colin was protesting. Kind of reminds me of my survey exploring the idea of boycotting Amazon's bookstore -- not the whole site just the bookstore--in an effort to prevent them from dominating the sale of black books. The strongest push back was from authors themselves -- the ones who actually are being hurt the most. People are not prepared to do the work, make the sacrifices, spend the money to start their own League any more than they would engage in the much easier activity of boycotting the NFL. As a result we just get used and abused. Collins looking for a job and nothing changes.

We must also understand that most of these players are playing under CONTRACTS with all types of clauses and stipulations in it that gives the owners and agents the ability to strip money from them left and right in the form of fines, penalties, law suits, ect..... Out of a $10 million contract, after taxes and fines and paying off agents and lawyers they may only see about $2 million of it. Colin wouldn't be unemployed right now IF AfroAmerican men had been intelligent enough to have seen this coming and started THEIR OWN major football league 30 or 40 years ago atleast as an option not ot be beholden to the wealthy White conservatives who own the NFL I think Ice Cube was trying to start some sort of basketball league of his own. Atleast that's a start.

This also reinforces the fact that despite the large wages these athletes men serve at the largess of their owners, "million dollar slaves." Colin may never play football again simply because he took a knee -- a symbolic act resulting in an football death sentence.

Film. Maker. Spike. Lee. Vocally. Slams. Trump . At. The,Cannes. Film. Festival.. Talking. About. Trump, Supporting. Neo. Nazi. In. Charlottesville. Last. Year..The,Movie,Black. Klansman. ,Is. About. A. Black. Detective,A. Jewish. Detective. Together. Infiltrate. A. Ku-Klux. KLAN. Cell. In. Colorado...Spike. Lee. Says,Black,White,Brown. We. All. Live. On. The. Planet,Trump,Has. The. Nuclear. Code,I. Go. To. Bed. Thinking,About. It....When. The. Sports. Talkers. Talk. About,Colin. Kapernick ,Protesting ,They. Will. Not. Talk. About,White. Police. Fired. For. Being. KLAN. Members...The,News. Show. Another. Black. Man. Jumped. On,By. White. Police. They. Don't. Talk. About. White. Police ,Fired. For. Being. KLAN. Members.........Some. Neo. Nazi ,Think,Trump. Will. Lead. The. Racist. Holy. War.....

There's something about this "Black Lives Matter" movement that makes me a little suspicious of it's origin and intentions. First of all, I have no problem with them being women but why are the founders Lesbian and Bisexual? Secondly, from what I see on television more White people are participating in these demonstrations than Black people which makes me wonder how much effort they're really putting into actually mobilizing the Black community. Also, their methods of blocking traffic and causing social agitation seems to do more harm than good because it pretty much pisses off the public. The police are the one's who did the wrong, so why shut down the sports arena and disrupt games or shut down the freeway and keep people from getting home to see their families? I liken THEIR methods to Colin Kaepernick's who thinks kneeling is will be effective....... Not only are you NOT being effective, but you're actually pissing otherwise neutral people off and making more enemies.

Prince Hall Wanna Be Man, stop wasting your time trying to explain what you DON'T know....lol. 　 Freemason's, formed in the middle ages was a secret Jewish society, for Jews. They become so powerful that non-Jews offered support only if they were included. Today, only the most promising, intellectually inspired Blacks are allowed entry. Many are Freemasons in secret, Barack Obama?, Chester Puller, Colin Power, Herman Cain, Candis Rise, and yes, your boy Ben Carson, etc.; True, most are recruited in college fraternities. With their secret hand-shakes, codes, etc. And who the HELL is "Candis Rise".......LMAO. What country do you REALLY come from? You CLAIM you come from Chicago but you write like somebody who just learned English 5 years ago.....LOL. Have you even considered the bowtie? Why, yes...I have. You like?

I hit that damn nerve again, huh? Pesky truths just won't let up! Freemason's, formed in the middle ages was a secret Jewish society, for Jews. They become so powerful that non-Jews offered support only if they were included. Today, only the most promising, intellectually inspired Blacks are allowed entry. Many are Freemasons in secret, Barack Obama?, Chester Puller, Colin Power, Herman Cain, Candis Rise, and yes, your boy Ben Carson, etc.; True, most are recruited in college fraternities. With their secret hand-shakes, codes, etc. Deflecting the truth with accusations of right-wing conspiracies is quite common among Jews too, who get offended when confronted with the truth. You know what they say about long legs and long fingers... Pun intended! And the legs are only have the 6ft 3in of my wonderful 210 lbs body, even at my age of 65 years. The image of my membership posts are 1 years old. How about your 5ft 5in maledeficient avatar, with the MANLY sideburns. Have you even considered the bowtie?

And to think...... If only Ben Carson would have known that poverty was simply a state of mind when he was just a poor kid coming up. Instead of all those years of going to college, studying, and hundreds of thousands of dollars in student loans in order to become a doctor and make a good living for himself......all he really had to so was go out on the porch, sit down, and CHANGE HIS MIND, lol. I don't agree with his politics but Carson is a brilliant brother. He wouldn't have made it to head nigga in neurosurgeon at John Hopkins Medical Center if he weren't. It's sad to see him disgrace himself and tarnish all of his achievements like this. It reminds me of how the esteemed General Colin Powell allowed himself and his sterling reputation to be turned into shit by doing the bidding of George W. Dr. Carson should resign from that position and abandon that sinking ship.

@Delano, I get it, a lot of people saw the film. But even the writer of the article pointed out that this film will "cannot reverse generations of negative imagery and distortion." The point you are missing and that was overlooked in the article is that first and foremost this film is a vehicle to make money. If someone did an analysis to see who will make the most money from the film this will be plain to you. Look I wish all of the ills heaped upon Black people globally would disappear as a result of this movie, but it is woefully idealistic to believe this will be the case. I'm surprised you would hold this position. Do you think this film will change 45's attitude toward "the Blacks?" Do you think Colin with get he QB job back. Do you think they will ever let more than 10 Black people into Stuyvesant HS? Do you think all the trigger happy Po-Po will stop gunning down unarmed Black people? Do you think more than a handful of Black people, if any will share proportionately in the fantastic profits generated by this film? Or will our role continue to be that of consumer; continually forking over our dough to people the owners of Disney who we have allowed to create our Mythology. You don't see Native Americans running around talking about how great Pocahontas was for the indigenous people of North America. The few that are left have more sense that we apparently have. You do realize that The Hollywood Reporter article you site, and well as all the other sources --including the NFL, is part of the same propaganda machine that made this film so fantastically popular. This material is created to get you to think exactly the why you are thinking. It is good that you visit sites like AALBC so that you are exposed to ideas not beholden to the same propaganda. that has figured out a way to both define your culture reap great financial rewards from it.

@Troy Would you have any misgivings marketing Colin Kaepernick's forthcoming book by using a phrase like "we sell books by black "sons-of-bitches"?

Deep article. As you know I have always decried the ineffectiveness on the NFL boycott, largely because we did not really sacrifice anything -- we refused to boycott, and the NFL and media controlled the narrative. The protest and Colin were easily dispatched. Random House will profit from a related book deal and I'll generate some commissions but football will go on and the brutality against Black people will continue... MY GOD! Have 4,000 people been shot in Chicago!?! I just looked it up and I see the number was actually 4,349 resulting in 771 murders! That is an astounding stat. In contrast, NY City with more than 3 times the population of Chitown had 231 murders in 2016 (the number will be well under 200 for 2017). I'm sure, but did not check, that murders in both cities were disproportionately Black on Black. In 2016, less than 260 Black people were killed by police -- nationwide -- Chicago's citizenry beat that before the summer was over. Of course some of the Brothers killed by police were unarmed and the shootings were unjustified. At any rate, I agree wholeheartedly with the idea that "...oppression left us unprepared for freedom." The word "Freedom," used 18 times in Shelby Steele's article, is key. We largely don't exercise freedom in the Black community. This is no different than what Carter G.Woodson wrote almost 90 years ago; "if there is no back door, he will cut one for his special benefit." I had not really thought about the protest in the content of freemdon before. Thanks for sharing the article (next time post an excerpt and link to the full article). _____________ BTW Jason, @Cynique is Brilliant nonetheless. In an alternative universe where wisdom and experience were revered more than youth and celebrity, people like Cynique would be more widely known.

There was no need to collude since they all wanted Colin to go away.

Thanks for the correction Cynique. @Pioneer1 as @Mel Hopkins mentioned this issue is collusion. By law (antitrust) the league;s owners can not get together decide to take an action,like blacklisting Kaepernick. But these guys don't have to talk to each other to know the deal. Colin was poison for the NFL's brand. I'd bet money they colluded regardless of the outcome of the grievance. Pioneer, these types of laws are in place for a good reason.