Colin Kaepernick Accepts Courageous Advocate Award From The American Civil Liberties Union

Photo via: The ACLU of Southern California.

Less than a month after being named GQ magazine's Citizen of the Year, Colin Kaepernick has received yet another honor for his unwavering commitment to social justice. This time it came from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), an organization whose mission is "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States."

The free-agent quarterback accepted the ACLU's Eason Monroe Courageous Advocate Award at its Bill of Rights Dinner on Sunday night. In his acceptance speech, Kaepernick said:

"We all have an obligation no matter the risk, and regardless of reward, to stand up for our fellow men and women who are oppressed with the understanding that human rights cannot be compromised."

Beyond humbled and honored to receive the Eason Monroe Courageous Advocate Award from the ACLU. Thank you, Hector Villagra and the ACLU for this honor and for the unrelenting, unwavering work by the ACLU to fight for social justice. We must confront systemic oppression as a doctor would a disease. You identify it, you call it out, you treat it and you defeat it. We all have an obligation no matter the risk, and regardless of reward, to stand up for our fellow men and women who are being oppressed with the understanding that human rights cannot be comprised. In the words of Frederick Douglass, “if there is no struggle, there is no progress.”

A post shared by colin kaepernick (@kaepernick7) on Dec 4, 2017 at 11:58am PST

He ended his speech with a Frederick Douglass quote: "If there is no struggle, there is no progress."

Kaepernick is set to receive the Muhammad Ali Legacy Award at the 2017 Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year ceremony tonight.