Colin Kaepernick Is GQ's 'Citizen Of The Year,' But Here's How He's Using The Power Of Silence To Take Back His Protest Narrative From Trump
With the exception of his ongoing grievance against NFL owners for collusion, Colin Kaepernick has been relatively silent while seemingly being blackballed from being employed by teams in the league.
But there's major power in silence that GQ says the free-agent quarterback understands well and is using it to push his activism forward. That's part of the reason why the 30-year-old graces the publication's new cover as its "Citizen of the Year."
GQ says it began discussing the cover with Kaepernick earlier this fall, when he explained to the magazine that he would participate in the cover process to snatch back the narrative of his protest, which was hijacked by President Trump.
Of course, in September, Trump called any player protesting during the national anthem a "son of a b***h" and hijacked Kaepernick's original narrative of taking a stand against racism and the police brutality of unarmed Black men and turned it into players disrespecting the American flag.
Although he didn't participate in an interview for the cover story, Kaepernick did pose for photos in Harlem, channeling a modern-day Muhammad Ali "people's champ" alongside the people that he's fighting for. That and GQ also spoke to the likes of Ava DuVernay, J. Cole, Harry Belafonte, Kap's former teammate Eric Reid, and several more activists, who all shared slices of their respective friendship and experiences with Kaepernick.
Take a look at these other photos accompanying GQ's cover story on Kaepernick.
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