Colin Kaepernick Offers a Pointed, Personal Take on 'Independence Day'

In case you were too busy at the barbecue yesterday, your favorite woke athlete, Colin Kaepernick, opted to commemorate the Fourth of July by dropping an inspiring video about finding his “personal independence.”

The video follows Kaepernick as he travels to Ghana to trace his ancestral roots. There, he visited several sites, including what appears to be the Cape Coast Castle, where enslaved Africans were kept before embarking on the middle passage to the American colonies.

The video, which Kaepernick posted on both his Twitter and Instagram accounts (the Instagram video is the longer version), begins with a quote from Frederick Douglass:

“What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence?” The famed abolitionist asks.

Kaepernick wrote the following caption on his Instagram:

In a quest to find my personal independence, I had to find out where my ancestors came from. I set out tracing my African ancestral roots, and it lead me to Ghana. Upon finding out this information, I wanted to visit the sites responsible for myself (and many other Black folks in the African Diaspora) for being forced into the hells of the middle passage. I wanted to see a fraction of what they saw before reaching the point of no return. I spent time with the/my Ghanaian people, from visiting the local hospital in Keta and the village of Atito, to eating banku in the homes of local friends, and paying my respects to Kwame Nkrumah’s Memorial Park. I felt their love, and truly I hope that they felt mine in return.

The former San Francisco 49ers quarterback and Super Bowl contender is still unsigned after opting out of his contract with the 49ers this past spring. Several current and former NFL stars have said they believe Kaepernick is being blackballed by the league, including Seattle Seahawks’ famously outspoken Richard Sherman.

Back in March, Sherman told ESPN’s First Take that the decision not to sign Kaepernick “has nothing to do with football.”

Despite it all, Kaepernick is continuing to donate money to a number of non-profits and charities. SB Nation reports that, as of April, the quarterback has donated $700,000 of the $1 million he pledged to donate. And Kaepernick’s number 7 jersey continues to be a top-seller in the NFL store.