CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Instead of taking a knee, Colin Kaepernick took home a prestigious award Thursday bestowed by Harvard University on those who’ve contributed greatly to African-American and African culture.
Kaepernick, 30, the former NFL player who began kneeling two years ago during the national anthem to protest police misconduct and treatment of Black Americans, was one of eight people to be awarded the W.E.B. Du Bois Medal. The honor is named for the late Black scholar who helped found the NAACP and earned three degrees from Harvard before his death in 1963.
To be sure, the awardees were a parade of people much older than Kaepernick who’ve risked lives and careers to change the country, but many of them in their acceptance speeches seemed to nod to Kaepernick, who appeared uncomfortable with the attention. As he walked past fellow honorees Dave Chappelle, Bryan Stevenson and more to receive his medal – the final one in the program – the packed to capacity crowd of about 1,100 at Harvard’s Sanders Theatre rose to its feet and applauded wildly.
Kaepernick, who remains unsigned since launching his movement, spoke of an instance just before he began kneeling in which he visited some high school athletes in Oakland, Calif. They told him they were going to eat at school because they could not at home.
“That moment has never left me,” said Kaepernick, who requested a recording blackout during his speech. “I think that’s the reality of what I’ve fought for.”
Part of our purpose is to do for others, he said.
“I feel it’s not only my responsibility but all of our responsibility … It is our duty to fight for them.”
