NFL player, Colin Kaepernick made nationwide headlines when he began taking a stand against racial injustice in America by taking a knee during the reciting of the National Anthem before each game.
While many athletes and fans have supported him, many others criticized him for disrespecting the Nation to make a statement instead of taking his efforts to his community. Well, it looks like Kaepernick has put his money where his mouth is and has created a youth camp called Know Your Rights. Its purpose is to “raise awareness on higher education, self empowerment, and instruction to properly interact with law enforcement in various scenarios,” says the organization’s website.
Apparently, Kaepernick and his team have been planning this event for two months and Shaun King from the NY Daily News was invited to the first event this past weekend. Just days before the camp, however, he was asked not to speak of it beforehand, because the football player was adamant about keeping the experience genuine. “I’m not doing this for the press and I don’t want it to become a media event so that the kids and the families can feel like this is just for them,” he told King.
Kaepernick also revealed that he and his team did not ask for corporate sponsorship because they didn’t want to be censored by companies who may not fully agree with their initiatives. The 49ers Quarterback created a 10 Rights List, that was actually inspired by the Black Panther Party’s 10 Point Plan, in order to promote the importance of knowing your personal freedoms:
1. You have the right to be free.
2. You have the right to be healthy.
3. You have the right to be brilliant.
4. You have the right to be safe.
5. You have the right be loved.
6. You have the right to be courageous.
7. You have the right to be alive.
8. You have the right to be trusted.
9. You have the right to be educated.
10. You have the right to know your rights.
This list of rights is printed on the back of the campers’ t-shirts.
Black and Latino kids from all over the Bay Area attended the camp. “We’re here today to fight back and give you all lessons to combat the oppressive issues that our people face on a daily basis. We’re here to give you tools to help you succeed,” he explained to the kids. “We’re going to give you knowledge on policing history, what the systems of policing in America were based on, and we’re also going to teach you skills to make sure you always make it home safely.” Kaepernick has also partnered with lawyers, professors and health and fitness experts in order to teach the kids about financial literacy, obtaining higher education, police brutality as well as being fit and healthy.
One last surprise that Kaepernick had for the kids was a prepaid ancestry DNA submission form. He was adopted, but recently took it upon himself to search for his roots and that is when he found out that he had ancestors from Ghana and Nigeria! “I want you to know what I know and know where you came from before slavery, before this oppression that we are experiencing, before police brutality, you had thousands of years of rich history and I want you to know your roots with that history,” he told the campers.
The whole point of Kaepernick starting this camp is to inspire other people to create camps such as this all over the country!
TSR STAFF: Talia O. @theclosetratchet on Instagram & @tallyohhh on Twitter!
Source: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/king-kaepernick-camp-cements-status-black-community-article-1.2850326
