A New York-based organization that works with parolees trying to get back into the workforce has organized a show of solidarity for free-agent quarterback Colin Kaepernick, which will take place on May 24 at 5 p.m. ET at NFL headquarters in New York.
Kevin Livingston, the president of 100 Suits for 100 Men -- the nonprofit Kaepernick recently donated about 50 suits to in order to help parolees on job interviews -- organized the movement after meeting Kaepernick last month.
"He stood up for us. It's only right that he took our issues in our communities and brought it to a national level and sacrificed salary and being ostracized by the NFL," Livingston told ESPN on Monday. "It was only right that we stand up for him. I started this, literally, when he came to my office -- I was moved. I work with parolees. People usually want to ostracize this particular population. Me working with him on the front lines and him coming to my office, this is not the first time I've worked with him.
"So I thought it was only right that I stand up for him."
Among the scheduled speakers at Wednesday's events around the country are former NBA player Etan Thomas, New York State Senator James Sanders Jr., rapper Rah Digga and Emerald Garner, a daughter of Eric Garner, whose death in 2014 during a police incident sparked demonstrations against police brutality.
Kaepernick spent the past year speaking out about social issues and police brutality, and he protested prior to San Francisco 49ers games last season by kneeling during the national anthem. Kaepernick is currently a free agent.
"We're not protesting. This is not anti-NFL. This is not going against the police," said Livingston, who is expecting about 40 supporters at NFL headquarters. "What we're doing exactly is we're showing solidarity to the league on behalf of Colin Kaepernick. This is nothing planned by him. This is all me.
"But I have to say, Colin Kaepernick really moved me when he did that for our community. And so ... the reason why I chose [NFL headquarters] is the league needs to see that Colin is being supported. And that we're buying consumers and that our dollars matter and I don't think it's fair the way he's being treated by the league. I just want to make that very clear."
Other gatherings Wednesday will be elsewhere in New York (Brooklyn, Harlem); Las Vegas; Milwaukee; Orlando, Florida; Chicago; Houston; Washington, D.C.; Miami; Detroit; Providence, Rhode Island; Columbus, Ohio; Charleston, South Carolina; and Lewiston, Maine.