Three-Fifths Magazine’s Theme for June, “The Revolution will not be televised,” has many meanings, as explained by its creator, Gil Scott Heron. One nuance is the attention Heron draws to consumerism. Such consumerism is quite evident surrounding conversations of Racial justice in the 21st century, where liberation becomes corporately driven, then sequestered, and replaced by Profit, Ratings, and the Bottom Line.

“We, the National Football League, admit we were wrong for not listening to N.F.L. players earlier and encourage all to speak out and peacefully protest,” Mr. Goodell said in his message. “We, the National Football League, believe Black lives matter.”

New York Times Article entitled N.F.L. Will Allow Six Social Justice Messages on Players’ Helmets By Michael Levenson Published September 5, 2021 Updated September 6, 2021.

The N.F.L. finally got it. Right? Questions about whether the N.F.L.’s change in policy about racial justice and equity matters is authentic or not persist in a world ruled by Profit, Ratings, and the Bottom Line. In the 2020, post George Floyd Black Lives Matter was promoted as good for business, no matter the industry.

Slogans can never replace true lament.

Flashback to September 1 of 2016, the country was on a razor’s edge as it closed in on a deeply divisive presidential election. It was a temperate September evening in the sophisticated San Francisco Bay Area. With an elated enthusiasm of anticipation akin to the swirling in the moist breeze of the bay. Among all the trappings of excitement and fanfare in Levi’s Stadium at the start of the final preseason game, onlookers rushed to their seats for the start of the National Anthem. With hats off, hands over hearts, and 45-degree angle salutes across the stadium, all stood at attention except one. Looking at the sideline of the home team, it became apparent. What was that? What was he doing? One Afro-styled head was not on the plane with the others because he was kneeling on one knee during the anthem.  This person was Colin Kaepernick, the 4^th ever African American Quarterback to start in the Super Bowl.

Kaepernick knelt for racial injustice in protest against police brutality of African Americans. As he persisted in this act in later games, others joined him. However, the league, dominated by older, rich, and powerful white male team owners, rebuke came swiftly to Kaepernick. From political campaigns to barstools at local pubs, N.F.L. consumers were outraged.

The National Football League endures a checkered past, at best, concerning the embrace of African Americans and other people of color. Old thinking said that African Americans lacked the intelligence to read defenses. Therefore, throughout the league’s history, African American Quarterbacks were few and far between. White Quarterbacks have been historically referred to as cerebral, while African American Q.B.s have been called athletic. Though the first Super Bowl was in 1967, it wasn’t until 1988 that Doug Williams became the first black quarterback to start in a Super Bowl. Warren Moon remains the only African American Quarterback to grace the hallways of Canton’s National Football Hall of Fame as an inductee.

This checkered past doesn’t stop at the quarterback position concerning questions of intelligence.

https://www.wbur.org/ Cognoscenti reported in a February 9, 2022 commentary entitled The N.F.L. is a Billion Dollar Plantation. “It’s telling that the N.F.L. settled out of court, rather than facing the public relations nightmare of former players and their loved ones testifying in public about the ravages of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (C.T.E.), the brain disease that has afflicted dozens upon dozens of star players such as Junior Seau, who died by suicide at 43 years old.

But that settlement included the use of race norming, a practice in which the league assumed that African-American players had lower baseline cognitive abilities, thus making it harder for them to receive the court-ordered payouts for the brain injuries incurred during their N.F.L. careers.”

Steve Almond, Cognoscenti contributor

Despite the league’s end-zone pledge to “END RACISM,” Black coaches continue to be denied top jobs in a league in which nearly 60 percent of the players are Black.

The Washington Post

Black Lives Matter consumerism invaded many corporate boardrooms; however, that invasion resulted in little if any change of the complexions of those in the Boardrooms. September 1, 2022, Washington Post article entitled How the N.F.L. Blocks Black Coaches “Despite the league’s end-zone pledge to “END RACISM,” Black coaches continue to be denied top jobs in a league in which nearly 60 percent of the players are Black.” In bold and flashy presentations, Corporate America spun out many hollow regurgitations of Black Lives Matter (B.L.M.). Gil Scott Heron admonished the monetary capitalization of a movement. In 2024, we understand that profit margins will fade. Slogans can never replace true lament.

Old racial tropes are hard to dispel.

In 2023, Former Ohio State quarterback CJ Stroud scored 18 out of 100 on an S2 cognition test during the predraft evaluations. Many questioned if he could process the game at an N.F.L. level. C.J. was drafted second overall, and not only did he prove the naysayers wrong, but he had one of the best years ever for a rookie quarterback, including taking the Houston Texans to the divisional round of the playoffs and being selected the Offensive Rookie of the Year.

In 2021, Justin Fields, entering the N.F.L. draft also from Ohio State, the quarterback scored the highest score ever on an aptitude test administered by sports psychologist Dr. Goldman. Fields was rumored to lack work ethic and intelligence, revisiting the old stereotypes such as the propensity for laziness and low intelligence attributed to African Americans. The misinformation lowered his draft stock to the 10th player selected.

Colin Kaepernick was ultimately blackballed and would never take another snap in the N.F.L. again. But that wasn’t the end of the story. Hear the comforting words of scripture.

“And let us not lose heart and grow weary and faint in acting nobly and doing right, for in due time and at the appointed season we shall reap, if we do not loosen and relax our courage and faint.”

Galatians 6:9 Amplified Bible, Classic Edition

Since 2016, he has founded and helped to fund three organizations—Know Your Rights Camp, Ra Vision Media, and Kaepernick Publishing—that together advance the liberation of Black and Brown people through storytelling, systems change, and political education.

“Kaepernick sits on Medium’s Board and is the winner of numerous prestigious honors including Amnesty International’s Ambassador of Conscience Award, the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Ripple of Hope honor, G.Q. magazine’s “Citizen of the Year,” the N.F.L.’s Len Eshmont Award, the Sports Illustrated Muhammad Ali Legacy Award, the ACLU’s Eason Monroe Courageous Advocate Award, and the Puffin/Nation Institute’s Prize for Creative Citizenship. In 2019, Kaepernick helped Nike win an Emmy for its “Dream Crazy” commercial. In 2021, he released Colin in Black & White, a 6-episode limited series on Netflix exploring his high school years. The show won two NAACP Image Awards. In 2022, he became a New York Times bestselling author for his acclaimed children’s picture book, I Color Myself Different.“

The Colin Kaepernick information above is from https://kaepernick7.com/pages/mission

Remember, The Revolution will not be Televised. Though not displayed as an N.F.L. player across millions of televisions, in living rooms, bars, restaurants, etc., Kaepernick became the nexus and personification of The Revolution. This Revolution continues to this day. His story encourages us all to do something. What role will you play in this ever-evolving Revolution for racial justice?