GQ Sets World On Fire With Kaepernick
Well GQ, you’ve gone and done it, you wanted to make a splash, so you went and dropped a tank into the deep end of the pool. GQ named Colin Kaepernick “citizen of the year” which is a highly recognized and coveted award for those who move in high profile circles. Mix the popularity of the award with the divisiveness that is Colin Kaepernick and you have the recipe for a tsunami.
After taking a day to let this sink in and let the dumb quotes from both sides make their way onto twitter I figured it was worth throwing in my two cents.
Per usual there are three reactions; There’s the “Trump supporter/Conservative/right leaning white person” reaction, which is that of head explosion. There is the collective standing, clapping, praising and slurping of GQ and of course Kaepernick by the progressive left and liberals. And there is the “who cares” shoulder shrug of most people in the middle who really don’t care.
The conservative right collectively blew a gasket when the news was announced and the cover photo shows a stone faced Kaepernick with a big well trimmed afro (which the cover is a powerful statement in and of itself). Former ESPN reporter Britt McHenry probably sprained a finger speedily trying to type the disdain for this move on Monday. McHenry took to Twitter stating:
“Wear socks depicting police officers as pigs; wear Fidel Castro as a fashion statement IN MIAMI; sue NFL for collusion when gf compares owners to slave owners…Win Citizen of the Year. Serve in the US military…nothing. What a joke, GQ. #Kaepernick,” Britt McHenry – Twitter
This reaction from the right is to be expected and GQ had to anticipate this from the beginning. The bad press still generates clicks and attention, and GQ wants the bad with the good because that means more advertising dollars. McHenry wasn’t the only right (not to be confused with white) conservative that spoke out against GQ’s cover model, pretty much all of Fox News melted down, Breitbart is still doubled over a toilet somewhere, and every conservative white guy on my Facebook Timeline is letting the world know, they’re done with GQ (judging how most of them dress we all know they’ve never seen a GQ).
The progressive left is just as predictable with their response. Every progressive left, liberal is praising this as Pulitzer winning and we have a slew of liberal commentators making very thoughtful quotes, laying praise to Kaepernick and GQ. Joy Reid, Shaun King, Common, and Usher just to name a few.
Again the praise from the liberal left was also to be anticipated and was necessary for the piece to work. I’m sure GQ’s intention was to generate more positive buzz than hate, but expected the hate to be there and figured it would bring more attention to the article. Based on the 3 other people chosen (they have 4 people of the year, Citizen, Wonder Woman, Champion, and Bad Hombre of the year), we can surmise the writers at GQ did not vote President Trump. Colin Kaepernick, Gal Gadot, Kevin Durant, and Stephen Colbert are not exactly going to draw a great deal of praise from the conservative camp these days, but clearly this wasn’t about balance.
The GQ article is worth a read and the images alone I thought were worthy of some sort of an award. I don’t necessarily agree with Kaepernick as the citizen of the year, but the article provides a compelling argument and no one can argue with the fact that he inspired a movement. I believe his protest has been turned and twisted to fit a narrative by a number of different groups for and against him and this piece helped to inject his own voice to things that the media and the world have been saying about him for the last 18 months.
Colin Kaepernick hasn’t played a single game this NFL season, but the quarterback earned a highly coveted accolade away from the field as one of GQ’s people of the year, the magazine announced Monday.
The ex-San Francisco 49ers signal caller is joined by “Wonder Woman” actress Gal Gadot, Golden State Warriors superstar forward Kevin Durant and “The Late Show” host Stephen Colbert. Each recipient received their own cover on the magazine’s December issue, with all four earning a different title.
“I’m honored to be recognized by @GQMagazine as Citizen of the Year,” Kaepernick tweeted Monday, shortly after GQ unveiled the new covers.
Kaepernick began a movement last year when he kneeled during the national anthem before a game as a way of peacefully protesting injustice toward minorities in the United States. After playing out the remainder of the 2016 season with the 49ers, he has been unable to find another job despite being a proven quarterback in his prime with a trip to the Super Bowl on his resume.
Kaepernick’s protest made waves and inspired other players to protest during the anthem as well, but was also met with backlash by some, including President Trump, who has condemned the players who kneel.
Steve
Steve is an affordable multifamily housing professional that is also the co-founder of Whiskey Congress. Steve has written for national publications such as The National Marijuana News and other outlets as a guest blogger on topics covering sports, politics, and cannabis. Steve loves whiskey, cigars, and uses powerlifting as an outlet to deal with the fact that no one listens to his brilliant ideas.
