Sep 17, 2026 · 1h 17m
Kaepernick links protest to shared responsibility
Colin Kaepernick, 10 Years After Taking A Knee
A decade after his anthem protest, Colin Kaepernick explains why confronting systemic oppression requires solidarity beyond personal experience.
- 1Kaepernick says the protest centered on systemic oppression and police violence, not a personal dispute or campaign to restore his career.
- 2The conversation connects economic security, privilege, and luck to the freedom—and responsibility—to act on principle.
- 3Kaepernick and Ryan Holiday argue that empathy begins when people question systems affecting communities beyond their own.
Don't miss
Kaepernick explains why he refused to turn community protests into a campaign for his own job, despite the enormous financial cost.
The brief
Ten years after kneeling during the national anthem, Colin Kaepernick revisits the protest’s personal and professional costs—and why he kept its focus on systemic oppression rather than his own career.
Kaepernick and Ryan Holiday connect economic insecurity, privilege, and luck, arguing that stronger social conditions would give more people the freedom to pursue meaningful work and act on principle.
The conversation rejects the idea that injustice matters only when it reaches someone’s own family, using unequal experiences of policing to show why curiosity and empathy are civic responsibilities.
Kaepernick recalls support from teammates, athletes, activists, and strangers, including Eric Reid and Megan Rapinoe, as evidence that solidarity can sustain a movement through isolation and backlash.
The episode closes on a practical claim: meaningful action takes different forms, but it begins with recognizing other people’s humanity as fully as one’s own.
Books & mentions
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