Mr. Kaepaernick will not be the only athlete in black America to use his platform for social activism on behalf of the community. Muhammad Ali and others have played a role in the past and it is refreshing that Colin and Marshawn Lynch and other athletes are following the right foot steps. In a society where celebrities are held in high regards, it is important that they show a sense of awareness about issues affecting regular people.
The political climate at the moment is polarized and to make it worse the issues are laced with racism and xenophobia. Working people are finding this as a form of escapism for the harsh reality of not being able to make economic gains in their personal lives. We have seen this movie before so many times one will think policy makers will be a step ahead to prevent the nation from going down a road to misery and abject poverty.
The black community seems worn out from constantly battling the same issue only to witness their economic gains lost amidst racial tensions. But this is a different time the 21st century to be exact, one that is supposed to be a century full of hope and promise for young people especially millenials. So how is it that past problems are very much alive as we saw in recent scenes in charlottesville and else where. The young protesters regardless of the side you were on looked like millenials. How did the pendulum in American politics swing from Barack Obama to Donald Trump literally in a blink.
During Baracks farewell speech to the nation and his supporters he made a profound statement "reality has a way of catching up with you." He said his mother told him that and it resonates really true with American society and its politics. If America wanted to match forward all it had to do was to vote both in th primaries and at the presidential election for Bernie Sanders. Bernie Sanders is very much a progressive and was ready to build on progress where at least some of us taught the nation wanted to move which is in a progressive direction.
The nation was barely out of the global financial crisis which brought depression/recession to both the developed and developing economies around the globe. We have to be practical when it comes to whether Barack Obama should have spent his time addressing Americas problem with racism. His presidency was once in a life time experience for black America and the rest of the world. He personally tried to advance race relations in America but the GOP made it a point to frustrate his socio-economic policy regardless of whether they agree with him or not. Eight years later we are here talking about black America protesting against racial injustice when it should be rebuilding communities that have been significantly impacted by an onslaught of racist government policies. The way forward is by doubling down on the work of social activists and never taking those efforts for granted.
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