@42 Monks
Going to have to respond to this post. You seem very dismissive of progress made or planning for the future of our community. The recent uptick of understanding that we have to own things and run things, not just hope for a job under someone else, is a positive step forward.
Standing up against anything isn't going to be easy or simple. It's going to be difficult and messy. Throwing your hands up in defeat when the path becomes unsure isn't how progress is made. There will be internal strife, but there is a general understanding of what the goal is.
You're creating a pretty terrible false equivalence here. Comparing Obama and Trump? Trump ran a blatantly bigoted campaign and everyone knows it. His supporters could care less about his "populist" policies as long as he appears to be taking aim at minorities. No deep comparison between the men or their supporters.
Your claims that all the other NFL players are in Kap's wake are idiots and that sports can't be a conduit for the political good are baseless. History is full of examples of the latter and you know that.
And as for the OP's question. No, they don't have to be, but it would be better if they were during times like this.
I appreciate a good discussion, but I'll be blunt and say that you're speaking in platitudes. Not only that, you're being outright dismissive of my initial point where I communicated the fact that these guys have not spent their lives dedicated to the institutions that govern and direct our world. They don't hail from educational backgrounds of politics, civil science/engineering, economics, technology, social work, etc - they throw balls far. The real false equivalence is when you compare the athletes to those. That's not to say that all athletes are trash. Not at all. Kareem, for example, was an exceptional symbol for all. But note that these are exceptions to the rule, not the standard.
I'm not being dismissive, I'm in the belief that true trust and faith in a community means that you can hold leaders and those that openly follow those leaders accountable. I don't think that's wrong either. If you say you care about the community, then you shouldn't be defensive when someone asks you to explain yourself, your cause, your process. That's something that many, many people can no longer fukking do when it comes to this Kaep situation specifically. When you have a goal and no plan, that's called hope. When you have no direction, you can't take a step forward.
Short version, motherfukkers are making it up as they go and want to get in their feelings when things like responsibility, purpose, and end-game get brought up again.
Also, what sense does it make to say "we could own the league" when show nowhere near the same give a fukk for basic infrastructure necessary to our communities? That is a PAINFUL misdirection to have to confront again and again and again. That's trapping yourself and everyone who falls in line with you in broken logic.
And no, I don't think you understand what I meant by populist. Populist policies isn't even a.... thing really. Obama's and Trump's campaigns both were 'new' in the sense that they gathered massive and hugely significant portions of their momentum from all forms of media, not just speeches and rallies. They made themselves likable or preferable in ways that had little to do with their actual policies. This momentum came from businesses, news agencies, schools, entertainment, etc. Responsible outreach directs those in your bubble towards the policy maker. Your influence over these people = votes. That influence is a commodity constantly in trade.
Who do these guys endorse? 
They don't fukking know because they never equipped themselves to play this game AND they have been conditioned to be dumb enough to consistently allow their influence to be reconfigured into whatever someone else wants. You guys literally saw the owners jack Kaep's own movement
quick. It was easy. It was easy because these guys are out of their depth.
Lastly, this "we're making a difference by trying hard" shyt is lazy, irresponsible, and straight up cheap. And if you spend time looking for an athlete's take over a real difference maker's then you're lost. You got brehs really out here trying to change the world and shyt but hold up lemme listen to see these dudes on ESPN gonna say next.
people don't even want to own the laundromats in their own communities. Cart ain't seen the horse in years.
