Eric Reid, left, joins teammate Colin Kaepernick during the national anthem. (Screen shot via USA Today)

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick is putting his money where his dissent is. After condemning Friday’s fatal shooting of Terence Crutcher by a white police officer in Tulsa, Okla., Kaepernick said Tuesday that he would take his national anthem protest movement “a step further” and donate $1 million to organizations that take on racial inequality, reports The Sacramento Bee.

Kaepernick plans to donate $100,000 a month for the next 10 months. To ensure transparency, he will set up a website that discloses where the money goes and how the organizations use it. There is no date yet for when the website will be up, and Kaepernick is still in the process of selecting organizations he will donate to, reports The Mercury News.

Kaepernick announced his decision to donate toward racial-equality efforts on Sept. 1, saying that he is dedicated to “making sure I’m actively in these communities, as well as donating the first million dollars I make this season to different organizations to help these communities and help these people,” according to Comcast SportsNet Bay Area.

Crutcher, who was unarmed, was killed after his car broke down, and his shooting death reinforced Kaepernick’s protests over police brutality and the oppression of African-Americans.

“They shot and killed a man and walked around like [he] wasn’t a human being,” Kaepernick told The Mercury News.“People are getting killed and not being treated as human beings. No one went and checked on him, no one tried to resuscitate him, nothing. They walked around, went about their business and made up lies to cover up their murder that they just committed. That’s not right, and they should be in prison.”

Kaepernick has gotten backlash, including death threats and heckling, on social media and at NFL games since his first protest during the playing of the national anthem on Aug. 26, he said. He is not concerned about the security threat, however. “[I]f something like that were to happen,” he told The Mercury News, “you’ve proved my point, and it will be loud and clear for everyone why it happened, and that would move this movement forward at a greater speed than what it is even now.”

Kaepernick’s protest has gained traction among professional athletes—including Patriots lineman Chris Long and Seattle Reign FC midfielder Megan Rapinoe—and within local communities. The goal of Kaepernick’s movement is to “fix this as quickly as possible.”

“I think as the conversations continue in these communities, more and more solutions are going to come up,” he said.

“I’m not anti-America,” Kaepernick explained. “I love America. … I want to help make America better. I think having these conversations helps everybody have a better understanding of where everybody is coming from. “

In addition to his $1 million pledge, Kaepernick said he would donate proceeds from his jersey sales and consider allowing public donations on his website.

—Posted by KiMi Robinson

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#activism#colin kaepernick#national#national anthem#politics#protest#race#racial justice#sports#usa