Photo credit: Steven Senne/AP Photo
On Thursday, former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick officially received Harvard’s W.E.B. Du Bois Medal. The athlete turned activist was among eight recipients who were honored for their contributions to Black history and culture at a ceremony presented by Harvard’s Hutchins Center for African and African American Research.
“I feel like it’s not only my responsibility, but all our responsibilities as people that are in positions of privilege, in positions of power, to continue to fight for them and uplift them, empower them,” Kaepernick said during his acceptance speech. “Because if we don’t we become complicit in the problem.”
At the request of Kaepernick, his acceptance speech was not recorded nor broadcasted. Read the full transcript of his speech below.
Kaepernick requested that the media not record or broadcast his speech, however he did allow his remarks to be on the record. So here is what he said: pic.twitter.com/KewUJJp0iB
advertisement— Eric Kane (@EricKaneTV) October 11, 2018
The other honorees are artist Kehinde Wiley, comedian Dave Chappelle, business executive Kenneth Chenault, philanthropist Pamela Joyner, social justice activist Bryan Stevenson, psychologist and author Florence Ladd, and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute President Shirley Ann Jackson.
Congratulations to all of this year’s honorees!