According to Complex, Colin Kaepernick revealed that the 2015 shooting of Mario Woods is what inspired him to become an activist.
✊ @Kaepernick7 reveals that the 2015 shooting death of Mario Woods is what inspired him to become an activist.
26-year-old Mario was shot 21 times by five San Francisco cops on Dec. 2, 2015: https://t.co/lSEwayKViX pic.twitter.com/a85eV1XT5z
— Complex (@Complex) August 20, 2019
Kap told Paper magazine that he began to formulate his traveling youth empowerment initiative Know Your Rights Camp after the incident. The former quarterback was deeply disturbed by the Woods’ death. The 26-year-old was shot 21 times by five San Francisco cops on Dec. 2, 2015.
According to Kap’s girlfriend, Nessa, Kap became a student of history. Telling Paper, “if Colin wasn’t reviewing a playbook, he was reading a history book”.
Kap started kneeling during the national anthem in August of 2016, eight months after Woods was killed. Around the same time, he began KYRC, which traveled across the nation and featured volunteers such as Taraji P. Henson, Ava DuVernay, and NFL player Eric Reid.
Woods’ death sparked range amongst citizens who believed the SFPD brutally executed him. During the incident, officers had confronted Woods—who was carrying a knife—after reports of a nearby stabbing. At first, officers used non-lethal bean bag rounds on Woods but switched to live ammo when they claim Woods became a threat.
Cellphone footage would later contradict the policemen’s accounts. Woods’ family sued the city for wrongful death and were awarded a $400,000 settlement. But the officers involved in the shooting were never charged
Updated: 2:13pm.
Per a press release from PAPER:
Colin Kaepernick is shaping today’s youth through his Know Your Rights Campaign, which is the cornerstone of this year’s ‘PAPER People’ issue. Colin’s multidimensional social justice project, co-curated with PAPER, features a portfolio of thought leaders and celebrities — Exonerated 5, Taraji P. Henson, Angela Davis, Tarana Burke, Nessa, Eric Reid, Indya Moore, Ava Duvernay, Yara Shahidi and Bryan Stevenson — to help bring the Know Your Rights Campaign’s ten pillars to life. Each change agent participated in a conversation with Colin and shared his/her/their own experiences associated with their chosen right. Together, these ten individuals selected by Colin Kaepernick represent the living embodiment of Know Your Rights Camp’s ten principles (listed below) making the Know Your Rights Campaign the
cornerstone of the ‘PAPER People’ issue.
“Courage is having strength in the face of adversity and doing something that other people wouldn’t do in that moment.” – Eric Reid
“The phrase ‘I have the right to be alive’ means nobody can take my life from me. Nobody can take my life from me. You don’t get to make me feel like I don’t deserve life. ‘ You have the right to be alive’ also means I get equal access to everything that I need to be alive. That I need to thrive.”- Indya Moore
“I think that Black brilliance produces discomfort precisely because it unsettles the way things are. Black people have always demanded change, always demanded transformation. This is why Black people in this hemisphere are so important to world history.” – Angela Davis
PAPER x Colin created a layered presentation of Colin’s plan, message and work through a cover story written by Miabelle Bocicault, radio host and producer, Dr. Ameer Hasan Loggins, Postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford University and Dr. Christopher Petrella from The Antiracist Research & Policy Center in Washington, all of them being Know Your Rights Members. The portfolio was captured by visionary Philadelphia-based photographer Shawn Theodore and an accompanying film was directed by Ali LeRoi. PAPER has a long tradition of collaborating with counter-culture icons that create pop-culture for a young, engaged audience and we are excited to share with you Colin Kaepernick a guest editor for his portfolio.
The Ten Pillars:
You Have the Right to Be Free: Exonerated 5
You Have the Right to Be Healthy: Taraji P. Henson
You Have the Right to Be Brilliant: Angela Davis
You Have the Right to Be Safe: Tarana Burke
You Have the Right to Be Loved: Nessa
You Have the Right to Be Courageous: Eric Reid
You Have the Right to Be Alive: Indya Moore
You Have the Right to Be Trusted: Ava Duvernay
You Have the Right to Be Educated: Yara Shahidi
You Have the Right to Know Your Rights: Bryan Stevenson
Click here to check out Colin’s full interview with Paper.
