★ 05/31/2021
Zirin (Jim Brown), sports editor at The Nation, delivers an enthralling look at the impact of peaceful protest by sports figures at the high school, college, and professional levels. Despite almost leading his team to a Super Bowl title, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s 2016 decision to protest the police shootings of unarmed Black men by taking a knee before football games while the national anthem was played rendered him a pariah in the NFL and left him unemployed. It also, Zirin notes, laid the groundwork for a reckoning within the sport. With deeply moving firsthand accounts from players of all ages from across the country, Zirin underscores how Kaepernick’s ostracism has paralleled the treatment of others who have followed his lead, such as one Ohio high schooler who kneeled in protest against white teammates using the N-word and received death threats in response. At the collegiate level, Black players have risked athletic scholarships to speak out against racism, and yet, Zirin writes, “because so many economic levers get pulled only if the athletes play, their power... is overwhelming.” In pointing this out, he brings into focus the colossal influence athletes actually have in upending a historically oppressive institution. The result offers rousing evidence of the life-changing effects spurred by individual action. (Sept.)
★ 08/01/2021
In August 2016, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick made a tremendous impact by protesting racial injustice and police brutality prior to a preseason NFL game against the Green Bay Packers, journalist and author Zirin (Jim Brown: Last Man Standing) writes. Before the game, Kaepernick sat on the bench and did not stand for the national anthem; he subsequently decided to "take a knee" when the national anthem played at future NFL games. The reactions to Kaepernick were far-reaching, including both praise and censure, as this book recounts. Zirin interviews athletes in various sports (at high school, college, and professional levels), coaches, and league officials about the effect of Kaepernick's on-the-field protests, in which he was soon joined by other NFL players. The author also interviews athletes and coaches throughout the United States who protested racism on the field, court, or rink; many of them describe facing ostracization, condemnation, and even death threats for their activism. VERDICT An insightful book about the wide-reaching effects of Kaepernick's protests. This book is highly recommended and is necessary reading for all, especially those who want to make a difference in promoting social justice, equity, and inclusion, and end police brutality.—Lucy Heckman, St. John's Univ. Lib., Queens Village, NY
2021-06-23
Take a knee, everyone, and start a revolution.
NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick did not act impulsively when, in 2016, he knelt down on one knee to protest police violence and racism. He had a long conversation with another NFL player and former Green Beret soldier, who suggested that the protest would be more visible and more meaningful than if Kaepernick simply refused to stand during the playing of the national anthem. “That was, it is safe to say now, a miscalculation,” writes Zirin, sports editor for the Nation. The year 2016 witnessed the rise of Donald Trump, “unrepentantly divisive and proudly bigoted,” who would go on to reveal his true racist colors the following year at Charlottesville; with Trump, a flood tide of White resentment and anti-Black acts would overwhelm the country. In response, as Zirin chronicles, players and protestors of many ethnicities emulated Kaepernick, sometimes courting significant trouble in doing so. These included a high school class of student athletes who collectively decided to take the knee in racially troubled Minneapolis, a cheerleader who acted alone in doing so, a Black student athlete in a mostly White community in New York who, appalled that the Confederate flag was being flown “as an all-purpose symbol of white supremacy,” launched a protest that caught on among young people: “I’m getting recognized for football,” he reasoned, “why can’t I get recognized for speaking?” Zirin closes his account, which is more in the way of vivid character sketches than anything driven by a governing thesis, with a conversation with John Carlos, who famously raised a fist in a Black Power salute at the 1968 Mexico City Olympic Games and who sagely counsels, “Love thyself. Love thy neighbor. Set a precedent and let them know that we are not the negative force in society. We are the positive force.”
A thoughtful anecdotal study of protest in our time.
Praise for The Kaepernick Effect:
“A collection of compelling stories that put the reader at the center of the tumultuous, frightening, and stirring protests for racial justice that, when put together, reveal the ways taking a knee transformed sports and the broader society. . . . [An] extraordinary book.”
—Jesse Hagopian, The Progressive
“An enthralling look at the impact of peaceful protest by sports figures at the high school, college, and professional levels . . . offers rousing evidence of the life-changing effects spurred by individual action.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Take a knee, everyone, and start a revolution. . . . A thoughtful anecdotal study of protest in our time.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“An insightful book about the wide-reaching effects of Kaepernick’s protests. This book is highly recommended and is necessary reading for all, especially those who want to make a difference in promoting social justice, equity, and inclusion, and end police brutality.”
—Library Journal (starred review)
“Zirin continues to mine gold from that place where sports and politics meet. . . . A thoughtful take on what remains a complicated, highly charged issue.”
—Booklist
“The Kaepernick Effect stands alone in capturing the true impact of the former quarterback’s peaceful protest, which was to inspire a generation. Zirin’s interviews with athletes of all ages are meticulous and fascinating, cementing Kaepernick’s status as one of the most significant athletes in American history.”
—Mina Kimes, ESPN
“Dave Zirin hits the bulls-eye with this textured examination of the man behind the movement and the movement inspired by the man.”
—Sekou Smith, NBA TV/NBA.com senior analyst
“With The Kaepernick Effect Dave Zirin has offered us a gift: a powerful chronicle of the national uprising inspired by the Movement for Black Lives in the world of sport. This will be the go-to text on athlete activism for years to come.”
—Frank Andre Guridy, author of The Sports Revolution: How Texas Changed the Culture of American Athletics
“In this captivating book, Zirin puts into sharp relief the activist potential of young athletes, and how they can serve as dismantlers of intersectional oppression.”
—Kimberlé Crenshaw, co-founder and executive director, African American Policy Forum
“Sharp and illuminating and a joy to read, Zirin’s analysis of events is unparalleled for its clarity and force. This book has been missing from our understanding of the current political moment; Zirin has filled the void.”
—Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, author From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation
“Dave Zirin . . . allows those influenced by Colin Kaepernick to explain why America wasn’t ready for him—but needed him to show how far we are from where we should want to be as a nation.”
—Michael Lee, sports enterprise writer, The Washington Post
“Across decades, Zirin has been a guide, machete-slicing through the thicket of marketing and mythologizing in sports to get fans closer to the uncomfortable truths. From the right side of history, intent on fairness and justice, he has been warning us about the liars, thieves, hypocrites, and grifters hiding in plain sight in America’s playpen. He has an uncommon grasp of his subject matter, a sculptor’s attention to detail and a historian’s expertise, and the combination is worthy of your applause. Kaepernick’s work will echo over the years. So, too, will Zirin’s.”
—Dan Le Batard
“When I think about Dave Zirin’s body of work, which I do a lot, ‘honesty’ and ‘integrity’ always come first to mind. He challenges you to think, and think carefully, about any and all assumptions you might have. You hear a lot these days about the importance of ‘stepping outside your comfort zone.’ Well, Zirin has always been there to help with that. The Kaepernick Effect is a perfect marriage of author and subject.”
—Jonathan Coleman, author of Long Way to Go: Black and White in America
“A powerful testimonial. Lessons in civic courage leap from every page as we see these amazing athletes risk everything to change this country and help set the stage for the racial reckoning we now face. Read this book and be inspired to fight for a new America!”
—Eddie S. Glaude Jr., author of Begin Again: James Baldwin’s America and Its Urgent Lessons for Our Own
How many Black people have to die at the hands of racist cops before white America listens to those voices? The Kaepernick Effect needs to be read by those who continue to deny racism and police brutality.”
—Chris Lamb, co-author of Sports Journalism: A History of Glory, Fame, and Technology
