That dope moment when Colin Kaepernick’s essence reverberates throughout the younger generation!

Jelani Howard and his Garfield High football teammates decided to channel the pro football player and kneeled during the national anthem in protest this past school year.

Photo: Lindsey Wasson / The Seattle Times

Their efforts to raise awareness about racism and police brutality even inspired other area schools to do the same.

“It really affected people and showed that kids can actually make a difference in the world,” Howard told the Seattle Times.

Howard's leadership, which inspired his team and other Seattle students, was honored with the Black Education Activist Award, and with $1,000.

The award was created by Garfield High teacher Jesse Hagopian.

Hagopian was pepper sprayed by local police during a 2015 Martin Luther King Day rally. He won a suit with the city, and wanted to use the money not for personal gain, but to advance the cause of justice and racial equality. He decided to create the Black Education Matters Activist Awards to do so.

In an interview with the Times, Howard noted that both he and his fellow students are well aware of what was happening to minorities in America, and wanted to do their part to help make a change.

“You saw our whole team do it, not just our team, but cheerleaders, some parents started sitting down, our volleyball team, and others started doing it around Seattle schools. It was crazy. It was kind of shocking, going through the experience,” said Howard.

“I had never been on CBS, I had never been on prime time. No 17-year-old gets to be interviewed by CBS for trying to make a change in the world. Being in that element is something I’ll never forget. It’s something I’ll tell my kids.”

Howard is certainly getting a lot of attention from this gesture, but he clearly knows to keep his eye on the prize.

What has the 18-year-old has learned through this experience?

“Even if you are going to try to do something good, there are going to be people who don’t agree with you. And you can’t let them stop you. You should do what you think is right.”

Well said!

Jelani Howard

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