The NFL became a platform for fighting for social justice with Colin Kaepernick's protests.
Although there have been many reports about the league's ambivalent attitude towards the protests, as well as the naked hate several league owners and sponsors have towards them, the NFL recently announced that several of its players would be traveling to Morehouse College in order to learn how to "develop and implement effective advocacy platforms that positively impact society.”
The USA Today reports that the program is officially titled the “Advocacy in Sport Workshop,” and that although it may seem a response to the #TakeAKnee movement, the workshop has been run since 2016.
“This historic workshop is aimed at training the next generation of athletes who wish to use sport as a powerful platform for advocacy. Our partnership is designed to equip athletes as influencers and community leaders with the mechanics to develop their advocacy platform,” NFL vice president of football operations Troy Vincent said.
The workshop, which will take place between February 21-23, 2018, will see players learning about past civil rights movements, and will include sessions from activists, politicians and other athletes. There will also be a more formal classroom component on psychology, sports and social justice taught by Morehouse professor David Wall Rice.
The NFL is putting on the program in partnership with the Ross Initiative in Sports for Equality (RISE), an organization founded in 2015 by Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross.
“Athletes have a unique ability to bring people together for solution-driven conversations that can bring about real change,” Jocelyn Benson, RISE’s chief executive officer said, according to the Undefeated. “At RISE, we believe that harnessing the unifying power of sports and empowering athletes to be effective advocates can improve race relations and drive social progress in our country.”
There has been some controversy over just what role the NFL should play in activism.
As we reported a few weeks ago, the league recently announced a deal with certain protesting players to give almost $90 million to charities that benefit communities of color.
However, some players that are currently participating the the #TakeAKnee protests, such as Eric Reid (who was one of the first to join Colin Kaepernick's protest last season) have spoken out against the move, accusing the NFL as trying to use the donation to silence the protests of its players.
This workshop is not part of that deal, and the interim president of Morehouse rose above that debate in his statement on the program, saying that instructing players on protests "is important work,"and that he believes "that the work we do in February and beyond has the capacity to impact lives.”
