Colin Kaepernick to publish book on abolishing the police
The former NFL star has a new book on the way with 30 essays, one of which he authored
Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick may not ever play in the NFL again, but he’s continuing his activism around social justice. The 33-year-old will release a book of essays advocating the abolition of police and prisons, per TMZ.
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The book, entitled Abolition for the People: The Movement for a Future Without Policing & Prisons, is set for release on October 12 with over 30 essays. Kaepernick is credited as the book’s editor but will author one of the essays himself.
Kaepernick formed his publishing company in 2019 as part of an outgrowth of his social justice work that started when his peaceful anthem protests became controversial.
Ultimately the QB, who took the 49ers to the Super Bowl in 2013 in a losing effort, was drummed from the league and settled a collusion case against the NFL in 2019, which alleged that NFL teams agreed to keep him from resigning to the league.
Since then, Kaepernick has sponsored the Know Your Rights Camp, which has provided empowerment training to kids in several cities and made good on his pledge to donate a million dollars of his own money to various social justice organizations. He says he hopes the book will expand the conversation around preventing police violence against Blacks and people of color.
“This anthology builds on decades of organizing and writing against policing & prisons & features the work of over 30 contributors plus a reader’s guide, infographics, & cover art by Emory Douglas,” Kaepernick tweeted on Tuesday.
Douglas is the artist who created the historic covers for The Black Panther newspaper.
Kaepernick concluded, “I’m proud to have edited this collection & hope it adds to the chorus of voices calling for a world without & beyond policing & prisons.”
As he noted, Kaepernick is not the first celebrated individual to call for prison and police abolition. The movement has been growing for decades as the United States, which is only 4.25% of the world’s population, incarcerates over 2 million people, mostly of color, who are 24.7% of the world’s prison population.
In 2003, activist and scholar Angela Davis released a book “Are Prisons Obsolete?” which called for the abolition of the prison-industrial complex.
Kaepernick made news before his announcement this week, at least by association. Former Florida quarterback Tim Tebow, 33, who hasn’t played in the NFL in nine years, is reuniting with his former coach Urban Meyer in Jacksonville. Tebow will not return as the Jaguars quarterback but as a tight end, a position he played for one snap in the NFL.
Per theGrio, sports observers and players questioned the move.
Critics have spoken out against the double standard applied to Kaepernick and Tebow, citing that at 33, both players are the same age, and both have spent time away from the league, yet Kaepernick remains ousted. In addition, as a tight end, Tebow will also be playing in a position he hasn’t played before.
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“Tim Tebow has gotten to fail at being an NFL QB, a minor league baseball player and an NFL TE—at age 33 despite never playing the position And YET … I don’t even gotta say it.” said sports writer Tyler Conway.
Football player Dez Bryant, who is a free agent like Kaepernick, also shared his confusion on Twitter.
“So Tebow haven’t played an NFL game in damn near a decade and it’s that simple…no hate but you got to be kidding me.”
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