Over the past week’s discussions, a question was proposed regarding the importance of a central leader during times of serious change, like the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. Dr. Martin Luther King is the person that everybody thinks of when they talk about this time. He was always the one delivering the speeches, marching in the front of the pack, and pushing the people of the movement further to continue to demand change. For this reason, Martin Luther King will forever be remembered as one of the most important people in the history of the United States. The question that I pose now is, who will be remembered from our generation? Who is our central leader?
There is no definitive answer to this question, but if I had to theorize about some of the most notable faces of the Black Lives Matters movement, one person that inevitably comes to mind is Collin Kaepernick. Although he has not spent much time in the public eye within the past few years, I still believe that his story is something that will be remembered and even compared to some of the actions of the leaders from 68. Looking back, we view the leaders of this time as heroes and show immense amounts of respect and gratitude for their passion towards the Civil Rights Movement, but I am sure that during the 60s they were not treated the same way. I believe that the same will be said for Collin Kaepernick. He first took a knee in 2016 and was met with fierce criticism, but he did not waiver in his actions. His situation got so bad that he ended up losing his job and hasn’t played another game in the NFL since. Now, four years later, players across all professional sports are taking a knee to show their support of the BLM movement. This idea was conceived by somebody who met extreme criticism for his actions, but he persisted and will now be remembered as a leader of our time and this movement.