Colin Kaepernick was named the Muhammad Ali Humanitarian of the Year on Saturday night in Louisville, Kentucky, the hometown of the man whose name the award carries. The former San Francisco 49ers quarterback took a knee during the national anthem to protest police killings of Black people, and he has not played in the NFL since.
The Muhammad Ali Center gave him the honor at the 13th annual Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Awards. Lonnie Ali, the center’s co-founder and CEO, said when the choice was announced in August that “Colin has used his platform to advocate for equality, human dignity, and social change.” She added that the work has come “at significant personal and professional cost.”
That cost is the point. Ali lost a title and years of his prime for refusing the draft, and the country that vilified him later built a center in his name. Kaepernick’s turn at that podium is the same arc, running a little faster.
The center also credited his work off the field. He founded Know Your Rights Camp in 2015 to teach Black and Brown young people about their rights and how to deal with police and the courts. He has published children’s books through Kaepernick Publishing and launched Lumi, an AI platform for literacy through storytelling. The center says he has given more than $1 million through his Million Dollar Pledge.
In his acceptance remarks, Kaepernick turned the honor outward. “As we’re out pursuing our dreams, and chasing our passions, and chasing our greatness, think about how many people you can bring along with you,” he told the audience, as Black Enterprise reported. When the award was announced, he said “our platforms are not simply ours to benefit from, but ours to use in service.”
He joins a list of past winners that includes Shaquille O’Neal, Michael J. Fox and Common. The ceremony also honored six humanitarians aged 30 and under, along with Louisville philanthropists Steve and Amy Trager and John Ramsey, who received a Lifetime Achievement Award.
The recognition lands in a country that spent years arguing about whether a Black athlete had the right to protest killings by police. A Kentucky institution built on Ali’s name has now settled that argument its own way. It called the protest a humanitarian act.
Know Your Rights Camp, which Kaepernick founded, continues its programs for Black and Brown youth.
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