Colin Kaepernick, the former NFL quarterback turned activist, has contributed $100,000 to a coronavirus relief fund aiding black and brown communities affected by the coronavirus.
What We Know:
- The fund was launched under Kaepernick’s “Know Your Rights” campaign, which will go toward food, shelter relief, education, personal protective equipment and incarcerated people to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus and provide resources to underserved populations.
- Although most states haven’t disclosed racial and ethnic data on coronavirus infections, early reports in major U.S. cities like Chicago and Detroit suggest COVID-19 has disproportionately affected African American and Latino communities – many of which have pre-existing conditions, jobs that can’t be done remotely, and are less likely to trust their doctors.
https://twitter.com/yourrightscamp/status/1250801157712211969
“Black and brown communities are being disproportionately devastated by COVID-19 because of hundreds of years of structural racism. That is why we have established the ‘Know Your Rights’ camp COVID-19 Relief Fund to help address these issues.”
https://twitter.com/Kaepernick7/status/1250809584391987200
- In 2016, Kaepernick, 32, began kneeling for the national anthem before games to protest police brutality and racism against African Americans.
- Kaepernick is the latest public figure to donate to a coronavirus fund to help curb the spread and combat the virus’ impact. Singer Pink donated $1 million — $500,000 each to the Temple University Hospital Emergency Fund and the City of Los Angeles Mayor’s Emergency COVID-19 Crisis Fund
- In late March, Roger Federer, and his wife, Minka announced they would donate about $1 million to help the most vulnerable families in Switzerland. Hip Hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs hosted a Dance-A-Thon via his Instagram Live where he raised over $3.7M in total for the healthcare workers on the frontline battling COVID-19.
With Kaepernick’s donation, the relief fund has surpassed $160,000, the website said.
