Trayvon Martin, Stephon Clark, Terence Crutcher. These are only a few names of African American men whose controversial deaths by police officers have sparked protest.

Former 49ers quarterback, Colin Kaepernick, has led the charge in the protests  against police brutality of African Americans and people of color. Kaepernick began this movement by sitting during the national anthem during the preseason games of August 2016, where he went unnoticed. Then, on September 1, 2016, Kaepernick took a knee during the national anthem and was joined by his teammate Eric Reid. These protest have helped increase awareness for an issue that has been silenced for far too long.

However, Kaepernick’s protests have resulted in a national uproar.

The football player justified his actions in a press conference, stating, “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.”

In Colin Kaepernick’s most recent operation, he teamed up with Nike to shoot the latest “Dream Crazy” marketing campaign ad. The ad has caused major buzz in the media world; so much so that owners of Nike products began to share pictures and videos of them destroying their Nike possessions in protest against the ad. Even President Trump has gotten in on the controversy, tweeting out, “Just like the NFL, whose ratings have gone WAY DOWN, Nike is getting absolutely killed with anger and boycotts.”

Despite the backlash that Nike has gotten from the ad, the company has reported a 31% sales increase since the ad has been released.

Colin Kaepernick has joined in on the Black Lives Matter movement as well, and has made tremendous donations to multiple charities and organizations. He also founded and fully funded the Know Your Rights camps as a way to educate the youth on ways to interact with law enforcement.

Currently the football player is a free agent and has not been signed by any NFL team, claiming that he has been blacklisted by the NFL leadership. He continues to protest and uses his platform to get his voice – and the voices of others – heard.