*Free agent NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick took to social media July 4 to explain his decision to visit Ghana in search of his own independence.
“To find my independence, I went home,” Kaepernick tweeted, along with a quote from Frederick Douglass and video of his trip. The Instagram post of the video included the following message from Kaepernick after the same Frederick Douglass quote: “What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence?”
He continued: “In a quest to find my personal independence, I had to find out where my ancestors came from. I set out tracing my African ancestral roots, and it lead me to Ghana. Upon finding out this information, I wanted to visit the sites responsible for myself (and many other Black folks in the African Diaspora) for being forced into the hells of the middle passage. I wanted to see a fraction of what they saw before reaching the point of no return. I spent time with the/my Ghanaian people, from visiting the local hospital in Keta and the village of Atito, to eating banku in the homes of local friends, and paying my respects to Kwame Nkrumah’s Memorial Park. I felt their love, and truly I hope that they felt mine in return.”
Kaepernick, who led the 49ers to an appearance in Super Bowl XLII, remains a free agent after being cut by the 49ers this offseason.
He’s taken up multiple humanitarian causes over the past few months. In January he handed out his colossal sneaker collection to homeless people in San Francisco, and in March, he helped raise funds to fly a plane full of food and water to help the struggling population of Somalia.
Kaepernick has also made a $50,000 donation to Meals on Wheels, donated hundreds of custom suits to a charity that helps people get a job after they’re released from jail and has donated $700,000 to charity over the past nine months as part of a pledge last season where he promised to donate a total of $1 million to help communities in need.
Also, he’s been running his “Know your rights” camp.
49ers receiver Marquise Goodwin popped up in photos with Kaepernick while also visiting Egypt. The former teammates visited the Temple of Horus in Edfu and the Temple of Philae in Aswan during the trip.
