Colin Kaepernick Launches COVID-19 Relief Fund for Communities of Color
Shani Saxon, Color Lines, April 21, 2020
Social justice activist and former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick on last week launched his Know Your Rights Camp COVID-19 Relief Fund in support of Black and Brown communities, NBC News reports. Kaepernick, who donated $100,000 to the fund, said proceeds will go toward food, education, housing and personal protective equipment for vulnerable communities, according to NBC. It will also provide assistance to incarcerated people and their families as they struggle with the ramifications of this global pandemic.
Kaepernick, 32, is best known for his decision in 2016 to protest police brutality against Black and Brown people by kneeling during the National Anthem before football games. He launched his Know Your Rights Camp organization in an effort to “advance the liberation and well-being of Black and Brown communities through education, self-empowerment, mass-mobilization and the creation of new systems that elevate the next generation of change leaders,“ according to the group’s website.
“Black and brown communities are being disproportionately devastated by COVID-19 because of hundreds of years of structural racism,” the star athlete said in a video he posted to coincide with the launch of the new fund. “That’s why we’ve established the ‘Know Your Rights’ Camp COVID-19 Relief Fund to help address these issues. We need each other now more than ever.”
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According to the Know Your Rights website, the COVID-19 relief fund has so far raised $289,287 in donations for communities of color.
