Hello everyone.

PLEASE READ THIS UNTIL THE END. As you know, this will be the 2nd season that Colin Kaepernick has been banned from the NFL. You also know the NFL recently created rules discouraging players to "protest during the anthem" or face fines/suspensions, as they say.

So as the 1st preseason games happened yesterday (yes, there were games that were played), several NFL players still took a knee/raised a fist during the anthem. One of the players responded afterward: "As a black man in this world, I've got an obligation to raise awareness".

As you may know by now, Trump responded to that today via his favorite medium, twitter:

"The NFL players are at it again - taking a knee when they should be standing proudly for the National Anthem. Numerous players, from different teams, wanted to show their “outrage” at something that most of them are unable to define. They make a fortune doing what they love......"

".....Be happy, be cool! A football game, that fans are paying soooo much money to watch and enjoy, is no place to protest. Most of that money goes to the players anyway. Find another way to protest. Stand proudly for your National Anthem or be Suspended Without Pay!"

At first read you'll probably roll your eyes and say, this guy is an idiot. And we agree he is. He also made an incorrect statement saying "most of that money goes to the players anyway"...which has already been debunked by several analysts.

But after reading it again, there's a part in his tweet that caught our eye:

"Numerous players, from different teams, wanted to show their “outrage” at something that most of them are unable to define."

Something most of them are unable to define. We saw that part and thought..."he kinda has a point".

We know you're like "What the hell?", but please stay with us. Let us explain.

WE ALL KNOW WHY Colin Kaepernick chose to take a knee during the anthem in 2016: "I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color...here are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder." 

Yes, he's talking about unarmed people of color getting shot/murdered & police getting away w/ paid leave (and mostly acquittals) -- so something HAD to be addressed in a major way.

But we believe Trump is looking for more of "a list of demands", something tangible that he can try to fix so this issue can "go away" (in his eyes). This is something, to be completely honest, we haven't made completely clear. For reference, here's some quick historical context of past protests that involved Black lives:

• 1955-56 Montgomery Bus Boycott - Issue: Black people were getting arrested for not giving up their seat to white people (aka the Rosa Parks case). Demand: Complete de-segregation of the bus system. Protest: Stop riding buses, which was a big form of income for the city. Result: De-segregation law passed a little over 12 months later.
• 1960 North Carolina Sit-ins - Issue: Black people couldn't eat at lunch counters in Greensboro, NC. Demand: Complete de-segregation of restaurants. Protest: Boycott of stores w/ segregated counters. Result: After $200,000 ($1.7 million today) in losses, segregation ended, sparking nationwide sit-ins.
• 2015 Mizzou protests - Issue: Bad treatment of Black students at University of Missouri. Demand: Resignation of school president. Protest: Hunger strike by student Johnathan Butler. Result: After its Football team threatened to boycott, the school president resigned 5 days after the hunger strike.

And let's never forget the long protests that lead to the Civil Rights Bill of 1964 (no discrimination), and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Each of these protests had a defined issue, demand, form of protest, and a clear result. 

As far as our protest, last season we said we were going to stop watching NFL games until Kaepernick gets signed. That was our clear demand. We & many others did that. The NFL lost ratings. However, they didn't seem bothered, because the cold-hard truth is that in 2017 the NFL DISTRIBUTED A RECORD $8 BILLION IN TV REVENUE to each team, leading Green Bay Packers president to say the NFL controversy "did not manifest in the books".

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So what's next? What are our true demands? Yes, we want Kaepernick to sign to a team. But is that it? What if he gets signed, then someone unarmed gets shot, and cops go out with paid leave again? What would've been the point of the Kaep's protest? Awareness/conversation is great, but is that enough?

This is an open-ended question. We don't have a clear solution to this. All we said in this petition was for us to stop watching games if Kaep wasn't signed. But what if we could do more, much more while we're in this stalemate? These are the things we've seen online so far as possible demands/solutions:

• Kaepernick's NFL collusion case, which is still ongoing. According to this primer, if Kaep wins he could make back 2x his lost salary. It could also derail the current CBA (collective bargaining agreement), a huge win for the players. It does not force the NFL to sign him, however. And don't forget those constant NFL appeals. Rumor says there's a key ruling coming very soon. However, this case will likely end up in federal court, who knows when.
• NFL players' memo to the league: In late 2017 several NFL players wrote an overview letter to the league describing the problems & possible solutions to be done. NBA coach Stan Van Gundy summarized it later on. Does not list any hard demands, however. This letter also lead the NFL to dedicate over $90 million to a group called "The Players Coalition" to aid social justice/inequality programs, but it didn't stop the protests (or address the root issue Kaepernick protested for) -- so the protests continue.
• Last month several civil rights groups sent NFL Commissioner Roger Googell a letter, asking to reverse their new anthem policy rule, which you can read here.

So what are the demands? The hard demands we're seeking? Should we demand that we'll stop watching games until a law passes requiring officers to get charged for shooting unarmed individuals, or anything that makes the police accountable for use of deadly force? How about making the NFL adopt a policy protecting those who protest during the anthem? Or adopting a policy allowing more inclusion for executive & ownership spots? These are just a few open-ended suggestions...

In essence, we're asking you: "What are your suggestions"?

Remember: Kaepernick himself said this is a protest for the people. What hard demands should we have in order to be satisfied with Kaepernick's protest, so many of us can start watching NFL games again? Something that Trump and his people can understand and "define"? Put your suggestions in the comment section below. Like the ones you agree with. Let city + civil rights leaders see these suggestions by sharing this update. The suggestions with the most likes (plus the best ones emailed to us) are the ones we'll include in our next update as our hard demands.

You can also email us at unstrippedvoice@gmail.com if you see a list of online demands that we missed in this update.

It's time to move forward.

#NoKaepernickNoNFL
#ImWithKap

Update: We put together your list of demands. Click here to check it out.