SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Following through on a promise he made at the beginning of the season, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick has revealed details of how and where the $1 million he pledged is being distributed.
Kaepernick took to Instagram on Friday to unveil what he is calling the "Million Dollar Pledge."
After deciding to kneel during the national anthem in protest of racial inequality and oppression during the preseason, Kaepernick said he would take action by donating the first $1 million he makes this season to organizations that would help the cause. He also said he would give the proceeds from his jersey sales to those organizations.
On Sept. 21, Kaepernick said that donation would come in $100,000 increments and that he would be establishing a website so the public could track the progress and distribution of that money.
Kaepernick's Instagram announcement says the "Million Dollar Pledge" is now in its second month and directed people to check out that now-established website, www.Kaepernick7.com. He finished the Instagram post with a quote attributed to Malcolm X reading, "I for one believe that if you give people a thorough understanding of what confronts them and the basic causes that produce it, they'll create their own program, and when the people create a program, you get action."
Kaepernick's website provides details on the organizations to which Kaepernick has given money, along with specific donation amounts. In October, Kaepernick gave $25,000 to two organizations in San Jose and one each in Milwaukee and Dallas. For November, Kaepernick's site shows donations of that same amount to two organizations in New York City, one in Milwaukee and one in Chicago.
The website also includes information about the "Know Your Rights Camp" Kaepernick held over the bye week in Oakland, and declares that the mission of Kaepernick's foundation is to "fight oppression of all kinds globally, through education and social activism."
Kaepernick had previously wanted to wait to reveal details and plans for his donations because he wanted to be certain the money was going to the right places and would be put toward the goals he wants to achieve.
"That's part of the reason we are being very careful and very meticulous with what we're doing to make sure that the organizations that we are working with are grassroots and the money is going to the communities that we want it to go to and helping the people that we want it to help," Kaepernick said in September. "Because there's a lot of foundations and organizations where a fraction of the money that you donate goes to what the actual cause is and a lot of it is spent on company expenses or whatever you want to call it. That's part of what we want to make sure we are not allowing to happen when making donations."