I've been working on a final project for my Digital Storytelling class for the past week and a half. It's been excruciating. I used this really beautiful timeline tool from Knight Lab to tell a story that has become urgent for me. See, I love football -- NFL football. I love cheering for my teams (the Saints, the Raiders, and new this year -- taking the place of the Seahawks -- the 49ers). It has been harder to do as years go by because the injuries and the CTE cases down the road are horrifying.
And, of course, the social justice issue.
I have a lot of friends my age who love football, too. Most of them -- like me -- are white. And about half of them have some very strong words for the players who have taken a knee through the National Anthem the past couple of years. They call it disrespectful to the flag and disrespectful to the military. They blame Colin Kaepernick for being the "instigator." They're with the President on this, and I am beside myself with an anger I'm proud to call righteous.
Some of them even stopped watching last year, using this "anti-American protest" as their excuse.
This timeline is for them. Kaepernick's protest was never about the flag or about the military. It has always been directly related to the disproportionate number of black men (and a few black women) killed by police -- and killed with almost total immunity. These are the killings that led up to Kaepernick's protest. Page after page, name after name, story after story -- the weight of building this nearly crushed me.
The good news is that it's not nearly as crushing to view as it was to build. So take your time. Watch the videos embedded here. Do your own research with this starting point. Just today, Richard Sherman (CB, 49ers) referred to the "plantation mentality" of Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys. And the President keeps tweeting.
This is nowhere near over.
#finalproject