Colin Kaepernick’s “Know Your Rights” Program is Providing the Youth With Major Keys to Success

Colin Kaepernick has been a powerful voice for the Black community since his controversial boycott of the national anthem during NFL games. He’s donated $1 million to community charities and is now set on empowering the youth with key tools they need to navigate everyday obstacles in life. For the second “Know Your Rights” event, a free campaign for youth fully funded by the San Francisco quarterback to raise awareness on higher education, self empowerment, and interaction with law enforcement, Kaepernick and other celebrity figures gathered at the historic Audubon Ballroom in Harlem, NY to give back.

At the venue where Malcolm X gave his final speech before being assassinated in 1965, Kaepernick and others provided kids with a history lesson on the Civil Rights activist and his significant impact on equality and racism in America. “We are trying to give them resources and knowledge,” the NFL explains. The kids sat-in on five workshops including “History on Policing,” “Knowing Your Rights,” “Health and Healthy Eating,” “Financial Literacy,” and “The Importance of Higher Education.”

The camp also centered the workshops around a 10-point program to help guide the students.

The event brought in 240 local students, who all received school essentials, the Autobiography of Malcolm X, Beats by Dre headphones, pamphlets to encourage healthy eating, and interesting DNA kits including a year membership to Ancestery.com “so they can really find out where they come from.” The 240 gift bags, valued at over $168,000. [continue reading…]