Zirin's book consists of inspiring and insightful interviews with a range of athletes (and one national anthem singer) from high school, college, professional, and Olympic teams. The focus of these interviews, as evidenced by the title of the book, is how Colin Kaepernick inspired them to kneel (or raise a fist) during the national anthem to express concerns about our country, specifically the treatment of black and brown individuals by the police. The lengthy interviews explain how the athlete made the decision to make this statement, how their coaches, teammates, and community reacted, and the consequences of their actions. These consequences typically included threats on social media, being benched or kicked off the team (or out of the sport), being harassed at games, and on rare occasions being applauded and championed for their courage. The athletes he interviews express themselves clearly and compellingly, making powerful arguments for their decisions and actions and explaining how their personal histories or studies led them to take these steps. The largest concern with these interviews is they're often repetitive, with many athletes making similar points and only occasionally raising a unique argument or idea.

The book misses being more persuasive and compelling because Zirin did no research, provides very little context for the stories, overlooks at least one enormous example (the Milwaukee Bucks refusing to play a playoff game out of protest), and doesn't explore the narrative or examples provided by his interview subjects. For example, I wanted to know what teammates and coaches thought about their actions and how they made their own decisions (Zirin rarely interviews coaches, and the few times he does it's those who were supportive); I wanted to know what happened at some of the games from an objective perspective (or at least one beyond the storyteller's); I wanted to hear from fans and get their opinions instead of reading this through the lens of the athlete; and often I wanted to know the stories behind the individuals who inspired these actions. Some are very well-known--George Floyd, Trayvon Martin, Breonna Taylor, Michael Brown--while others are less familiar and are repeatedly referenced without explanation. Any of this could have been easily accomplished with a little research and time and would have provided far greater context for the book's argument,.

Perhaps most surprisingly, Zirin doesn't even interview Colin Kaepernick. Given the thesis of his book, the lack of Kaepernick's perspective is a glaring omission that makes the reader wonder how much effort Zirin put into his research and interviews. Based on the final product, it looks like the answer is "not much." There's excellent and insightful information in this book, but it could have been much stronger and more persuasive with a little extra effort.

Well I didn't know what to expect from this book. I found it very interesting and I learnt a lot. I didn't realise a lot of what was contained in the book. I especially found it interesting the section on cheerleaders and the chapters on baseball etc.

I was given an advance copy by netgalley and the publishers but the review is entirely my own.

Following Colin Kaepernick's decision to take a knee during the 2016 NFL season, athletes in a variety of sports and levels followed his lead. Dave Zirin interviewed high school, college, and professional athletes about their decisions to take a knee, and the overall impact of their decisions.

This collection of personal experiences gives readers an understanding of how different people viewed taking a knee and the impact it has had on the individuals, their communities, the sports world, and the nation.

I'm a big fan of Kaepernick and agree with his politics, but even if you don't, I think this is worth a read. It made me think and I agree with him, so I can only imagine how this might stretch the minds of others. I also learned a whole lot about him and what he stands for that I wasn't previously aware of.

I enjoyed this book. I found it informative. It was an effective summary of the local stories of resistance happening in the country.

The Kaepernick Effect: Taking a Knee, Changing the World
by Dave Zirin

I think more people understand now what Kaepernick was taking a knee for after seeing George Floyd's murder. But at the time Kaepernick was kneeling, Kaepernick was an ousider but also an inspiration to many that had lived or living with the constant racist attacks and taunts. At the time too, there were plenty of minorities that were being killed in plain sight by cops and nothing was done about it. Justice was not in action in America. The flag did not mean freedom and justice for all and Kaepernick was willing to give everything to bring attention to this fact.

Kaepernick's bravery and commitment to bringing the injustice to light inspired many people in the sports field to also take a stand. Professional, semi-professionals, coaches, various team athletes, and cheerleaders all share stories. Even teachers. This book tells us about some of them and how they became involved. Many have some very horrific tales of racist attacks before they take a stand but they didn't let that stop them. The attacks became even worse after they took their stand.

The Kaepernick effect on young people had them standing up to get the change started. They started with getting people to talk about racism, injustice, BLM, and police brutality. It spread like crazy with high school and colleges. This also tells of how people tried shutting them down.

This is very informative and interesting. I enjoyed the stories of these brave kids. It was sickening to read all they went through in their day to day life just because they were of color! They should be very proud of themselves for their decisions to try to make a change in this messed up world!
I want to thank the publisher and NetGalley for letting me read this book!

As a sport psychology student I have been following the activism in sports for years. John Carlos and Tommie Smith’s black power salute has been one of my favourite iconic moments in sport history and Colin Kaepernicks kneel came right behind it. During my studies I wrote a paper on why Kaepernick should not have lost his career because of his protest and have become a huge fan of his. This book was truly inspiring and extremely educational. As a white woman in Canada, I couldn’t even fathom that these events spoken about in the book were real. The collection of stories about protests similar to Kaepernicks were empowering and awe worthy. I highly recommend this book to people from all walks of life and to remember that #blacklivesmatter

This is an outstanding book looking at layers of the Colin Kaepernick kneeling movement that changed sports. We're aware of what happened to the NFL Quarterback, but this looks at college and high school sports through a new light. I was in awe reading about the brave students who stood up for what they believed in against adversity. A must read for any sports fan who values human rights.