I started this campaign with a tiny spark and hundreds of thousands of you fanned it into a flame. Tonight it became a bonfire, and I won’t let that bonfire go out. We didn’t win tonight, but the fight continues, and we achieved so much along the way.
Back in 2016, I started a campaign asking the world to boycott the NFL until Kaepernick played again. 220,000 of you joined with me in that boycott.
This October, it felt like we were headed to another Super Bowl where nothing had changed, until Rihanna turned down the invitation to perform the halftime show, and Amy Schumer committed not to work with the NFL. Then Maroon 5 was rumored to take Rihanna’s place on that national stage.
So I asked Maroon 5 to join Amy Schumer and Rihanna by refusing to play the halftime show. 60,000 of you joined in and I delivered your signatures to their reps in LA, hoping to persuade them. The media couldn’t stop talking about it, and for a minute, it seemed like they might not sign on.
When they confirmed, I was disappointed. It felt like a huge setback. And to make matters worse, Travis Scott and Big Boi had also agreed to play.
At this point, I thought there was just one way that they could redeem themselves with their fans: taking a knee during their performance. So I updated the petition and soon it exploded to 115,000 signatures.
Again, your story, your signatures and your voices were all over the media. But we knew we had to do more to show people why this matters, so I asked you all for videos about why you care and you more than delivered, creating this powerful, emotional video that has been seen thousands of times. Even Roger Waters from Pink Floyd sent a video and challenged Maroon 5, creating another wave of press coverage.
Feeling the heat, NFL and Maroon 5 cancelled the traditional pre-game press conference and just yesterday I headed to Atlanta with support from the Change.org campaigns team. Working with Atlanta artist Kyle Morais, we projected your message in massive letters outside the stadium Saturday night, funded in part by contributions from all of you.
Going to sleep last night, I knew that whatever happened today, together we had changed the conversation. Travis Scott had persuaded the NFL to donate $500,000 to the racial justice organization Dream Corps, and Maroon 5 did the same with Big Brothers Big Sisters. Variety Magazine said that the halftime show is now the gig that no one wants.
Starting this petition, and the impact it had in starting the national conversation on the halftime show, is something I’ll never forget. The NFL owners have to realize the massive error they made in banning Colin Kaepernick because of this stance, and tainting that halftime stage is a sure way to make a lasting impact.
We’re not done with this fight. As long as Kaepernick isn’t signed, that Super Bowl stage will continue to be tainted. Thank you to all who signed this petition and helped move the conversation forward.
It’s YOU who truly made the impact. We’re so much stronger because of what we created together. I definitely couldn't have done this without your support, or without help from the small campaigns team at Change.org.
That support is funded by ordinary people like and you and me who contribute to Change.org monthly as members. Could you contribute as little as $5 a month to continue that support for petition starters like me?
Or you could start your own petition -- you just might set the world on fire!
In love and solidarity,
Vic