Kaepernick
a poem by Malcolm Thomas

He’s carrying on a tradition

Of athletes taking a stand for what they believe is right,

Who have gone through the thought of losing their jobs

Just to stand up to the fight.

People like

Muhammad Ali, John Carlos, Tommie Smith, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Russell, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, Craig Hodges,

And many others who stood up even if it meant taking a few of the commentators’ bites.

 

Criticizers

 

Haters

 

Who want to create a negative association

Because they disagree with the presentation of his overall message.

 

So during the national anthem he took a knee

That represented the captivity of Brown and Black people in this so-called land of the free,

 

Where our veterans fought so we would have the right to be the home of the brave.

Or so they say.

Oh say can you see,

They tried to say he was disrespecting the military,

But if they really cared about their well-being,

 

We wouldn’t have so many homeless veterans unable to get medical treatment for their post-traumatic states,

We wouldn’t have veterans sleeping on sidewalks and under bridges unable to get jobs or put food on their family’s plates,

With all their Stand and take off your hats to honor those who serve in the military during the games,

 

But when they come back from wars,

Actually fighting for the United States,

They kick them to the curb,

Push them out like trash cans on garbage days.

 

But they didn’t like Kaepernick taking a knee to call foul on their play,

So they attacked his character and ridiculed and mocked,

Chastised and criticized,

Pointed fingers and talked,

Said he was anti-American,

Using the television to try to tear him down because he called out what wasn’t right.

 

They’re all for athletes using their voices until they say something that they don’t like.

Mmmmmmm-hmmmm. Hypocrites.

 

I see them same exact media people who bring my daddy on their shows to try to get him to criticize current athletes saying, Where are the modern-day Muhammad Alis and Jim Browns today?

But as soon as a Colin Kaepernick talks about racism and police brutality

They wanna tell him to shut up and play.

 

Hypocrites, I tell you.

 

Much respect to Colin Kaepernick.

 

Posing with a Black Panther ’fro with a pick in it,

He talked of injustice that was everywhere as far as the eye can see.

He refused to be forced to choose between one bad and one worse presidential people.

He said both choices sucked,

The lesser of two evils

Wasn’t good enough options to work with,

They was straight cheating the people like AAU tournaments.

 

So now the NFL is trying to blackball him,

Keep him from playing,

Saying he is a negative influence and a distraction from the rest of the team was what they are claiming.

 

They say he’s a bad person,

As if Dan Snyder is a model citizen for his Washington football team organization,

Using a racist name that he knows good and well is offensive to Native Americans.

 

Y’all got rapists, murderers, and wife beaters that y’all suit up with no hesitation,

Repeated domestic violence offenders that y’all give standing ovations,

But y’all have the nerve to let it come out y’all mouths that Kaepernick is the one who is bad for y’all NFL organizations?

Y’all a bunch of hypocrites!!!!

 

My man Kaepernick donated sixty tons of food to Somalia,

Just gave $50k to Meals on Wheels,

He holds Know Your Rights camps for youth in different cities all across the country, teaching them the real deal.

 

He gave money to Standing Rock,

He wanted the Dakota Pipeline that was gonna desecrate their sacred land,

Poison their water supply,

And even further destroy their lives, to stop.

 

He stood outside a New York City parole office and donated custom-made suits to men who just got out of jail.

He’s getting them ready for job interviews

So y’all don’t send them right back into your prison cells.

 

AND he donated a million dollars to Black Lives Matter.

He’s doing all of this out of the kindness of his heart,

But they’re questioning his character?

 

All this hypocrisy is just too much for me.

Maybe my twelve-year-old mind just can’t understand y’all grown-up rationality.

 

But I do know that a real revolutionary can never be stopped,

And if they really blackball Kaepernick from the NFL,

We need to NOT just whisper,

NOT just threaten,

But actually boycott.

 

Malcolm wearing his favorite jersey.