Vikings' committee...
Vikings' social justice committee takes a leading role in community
Eric Kendricks spent the last days of May stewing over his thoughts, sorting through the pain he felt over George Floyd’s death and searching for the right way to respond to a statement from NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell he felt hadn’t gone far enough.The Vikings linebacker is ordinarily reticent in public, wary of attracting widespread attention. His comments to reporters are typically polite, but brief, and he’d tweeted just once in May, about an NFL Network story on how Kendricks was selling his own paintings to raise money for COVID-19 relief.
But as he played back everything he’d seen and felt — over the video of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck and the 150-word statement Goodell released on May 30 offering condolences to the families of Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor without mentioning racism or police brutality — Kendricks kept thinking of teammates on the Vikings’ social justice committee with whom he’d shared ideas and processed deep hurt.
“For about a whole day, I just really sat on it,” Kendricks said Thursday. “The thing is, this committee that I’ve been able to be a part of, and the people in the committee that I’ve learned from — Stephen Weatherly’s not on our team anymore, but he’s on the committee. Hearing him and Ameer , they’re so educated. They’re such smart guys. I felt like, now, with my knowledge, if I say I’m standing for these issues, if I say this is the kind of change I want to make, I had to do something.”
On June 2, he posted a Twitter thread asking the NFL to take concrete steps toward creating racial justice. He released a video through the Vikings on June 3, saying, “It breaks my heart to see the people of Minneapolis not only treated like this but how hurt they are by this,” as he wiped away tears. He and teammate Anthony Barr appeared with 16 other players in a June 4 video telling the league to condemn systemic racism, in words that Goodell repeated in his own response a day later. And Kendricks joined nine teammates in a June 6 meeting with Minneapolis police Chief Medaria Arradondo and three officers to discuss how the department can improve relationships with black people.
The week of public action, in many ways, stood unique in Kendricks’ five-year career. It was prompted by Floyd’s killing in south Minneapolis, which produced worldwide outcry and, eventually, notable contrition from the largest sports enterprise in the United States. It also was the product of three years in a group that has educated many Vikings players and emboldened them to take action.
The social justice committee the Vikings founded in 2017, after discussions among defensive line coach Andre Patterson, General Manager Rick Spielman and team ownership, had two aims: Help players partner with organizations working on systemic issues in the Twin Cities, and create a haven for those players to discuss racial matters together.
It distributed $250,000 in grants from the Wilf family in both 2018 and 2019 to criminal justice reform, education, legal aid, nutrition, youth services and post-prison reintegration programs. It also stoked an activist spirit on the roster: Kendricks’ work with kids in the Hennepin County Juvenile Detention Center has taught him more about the link between food insecurity and juvenile crime, and last week safety Anthony Harris struck up a 25-minute conversation about police department structures with a white officer in his native Richmond, Va.
The Wilfs this week committed another $5 million to social justice work across the country, and the social justice committee announced a $125,000 endowment for a scholarship in Floyd’s name. In the reaction to Floyd’s death, committee members also see hope for change.
“All people were able to see, for the first time, that it does exist and that this is real,” Patterson said. “It was videoed from the beginning to the end. All the other ones that have happened before, it becomes word of mouth: ‘Was the person resisting arrest? Did the person do something to have the police be this aggressive?’ It becomes, ‘What do you believe?’ Do you believe the person’s family, or what the police is saying happened?
“This one’s different; everybody was able to see what occurred, and how far it went.”
Processing shock together
Patterson, who turned 60 on Friday, grew up in Richmond, Calif., near where the Black Panthers were founded. Now the Vikings’ co-defensive coordinator, he functions as a source of wisdom for the team’s social justice committee, often reminding younger players that change takes time.
Still, he said, “it probably took a week” before he was ready to watch the entire video of Floyd’s May 25 arrest.
“I knew what I was going to see,” he said. “It’s like I told the players — you have to be able to talk, to be able to get it out, because if you don’t, anger will eat you up inside. I had to make sure mentally I was prepared to view it, because I knew the anger and rage would come back.”
Harris first questioned whether the video was real when friends texted it to him. He realized he’d talked before with Donald Williams, an eyewitness whose account of the Floyd killing attracted national attention on CNN, when Williams was working as a security guard in downtown Minneapolis.
“I thought I recognized his voice,” Harris said. “It brought it into perspective, how close incidents like that are to you. I can just imagine him, not only seeing another African-American man, but knowing he’s someone who works in the area with law enforcement, that he wanted to help, and how helpless he could have felt.”
The Monday after Floyd’s death, the Wilfs, Patterson and two players from the social justice committee led a team meeting. Spielman spoke the next day, as did Mike Zimmer. The coach consulted Patterson, his close friend and longtime colleague, about what to say; Patterson told him to simply speak from his heart.
“He humbled himself greatly and said, ‘Man, I don’t understand and maybe I haven’t given this as much attention, but I know I love every single last one of you guys in this room and I’ll fight for you guys just like you were my sons,’ ” Abdullah said. “That meant a lot for me because coming from Alabama, I grew up Muslim and black, so I was a double minority. I didn’t have a lot of people of the other color or other religion speaking for me, even when they didn’t understand my religion, even if they didn’t understand my background. So to have Zim come out and say, ‘I don’t understand, but I stand with you’ was powerful for me.”
https://www.startribune.com/vikings-social-justice-committee-takes-a-leading-role-in-community/571243112/
Hurry-up Vikings, we ain't getting any younger!
‘Group is built to do things’
On Thursday, Patterson and Harris could easily recount their own experiences with law enforcement: Harris recalled older family members telling him to stay still and keep his hands visible during traffic stops as a kid, while Patterson remembered police following him several times as he drove an older Mercedes home while he was Washington State’s defensive line coach in the early 1990s.
At the same time, Patterson said, he heard from black players who were routinely pulled over on the five-minute drive back from Idaho (where the legal drinking age was only 18 at the time), while white students made the short return trip to campus unchecked.
“I went to the head coach , and said, ‘I want you to make me the liaison to the police department,’ and he did,” Patterson said. “I wanted them to see my face. I wanted to find a way to bridge the gap between police and our players.”
He set up ride-alongs and police station visits and held barbecues between players and police; over time, the relationship warmed and the traffic stops lessened. The Vikings’ social justice committee put together similar programs, and players reached out to police on their own this month; Kendricks had a 45-minute conversation with a childhood friend who’s now an officer, and Harris’ talk with the Richmond officer gave him new perspective on the idea of defunding or dismantling police departments.
The group will help allocate the Wilfs’ newest $5 million gift and is still making decisions about next steps for community efforts. Three years of work, and three weeks of processing what’s happened in Minneapolis, seem to have Vikings players ready to step in as boldly as ever.
“That’s the thing — we are all just learning so much ,” Kendricks said. “This group is built to do things, to take action to create change. … The more minds we have collectively, the more effective we’re going to be.”
The Vikings under the Wilfs have been one of the NFL's most progressive franchises. Kudos.
@"StickyBun" said: The Vikings under the Wilfs have been one of the NFL's most progressive franchises. Kudos.Given the Wilf's family history and how they suffered under Fascism and the extreme right, I am not surprised...
And yes, kudos to them for actually doing something about it and that something being formulated by players, coaches etc...
This committee is such a great tool for them to try and assist in making changes in the Cities. Sometimes I think people forget what a voice these guys actually have in the community.
It is important that the players are being supported by coaches and ownership. This is a very good thing. Kudos all around on this one.
Anyone on the SJ committee tackle like this bus driver?
Everybody is sick of this it seems. https://t.co/zQtjtzCRxL
— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) June 14, 2020
Everybody is sick of this it seems. https://t.co/zQtjtzCRxL
— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) June 14, 2020
@"BigAl99" said: James woods, reallyWoods wasn't the bus driver, he just posted it. Unless the makeup dept did a helluva job.
@"purplefaithful" said:Oh jeeze.
Given the Wilf's family history and how they suffered under Fascism and the extreme right, I am not surprised...Defeating the 3rd Reich/Nazism is reminiscent and stimulative of creating a program correcting "social injustice" in the NFL/ US?
An (American) society SO injudicious....that billionaire bougies are appointing millionaire serfs....to enact redress?
Do you people ever listen to yourselves?And the one man (Churchill) in history who stood in the 3rd Reich's way, his statue is now under assault?
You guys are jumping the shark....but by all means, keep jumping.
@"savannahskol" said:@"purplefaithful" said:Oh jeeze.
Given the Wilf's family history and how they suffered under Fascism and the extreme right, I am not surprised...Defeating the 3rd Reich/Nazism is reminiscent and stimulative of creating a program correcting "social injustice" in the NFL/ US?
You guys are jumping the shark....but by all means, keep jumping.
Not jumping anything, but you're jumping to conclusions fueled by your own agenda.The Wilf family suffered great loss at the hands of Fascism, the extreme right and their policy of genocide..They've been quite open and transparent on how that has influenced them today and the causes they support.
Not surprising at all that they have great empathy and no stomach for racial injustice in the US...
From ashes to riches: Wilfs, sons of Holocaust survivors, have legacy of resilience
https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/sports/3914684-ashes-riches-wilfs-sons-holocaust-survivors-have-legacy-resilienceChurchill was a known racist, no sweeping history under the rug on that one. His words are out there for all to see, read and learn from...If you want to paint the truth an assault you go for it.
so what about the Washington Monument? George had slaves, should that get toppled as well? The Jefferson Memorial? maybe we need to rub their faces off of Mt Rushmore as well? Lots and lots of public reminders of historically questionable people.
some of this shit is getting way out of hand in terms of historical monuments and shit, if a persons sole reason for being memorialized was racist or biased based.. sure, take em down, but symbols getting trashed simply because they are loosely associated historically with dark periods or bad shit... thats just stupid IMO.
And these my friend Jimmy are the uncomfortable conversations us whities are having today. There is a big difference between remembering and honoring.
In the case of Abe Lincoln, its pretty easy for me to honor. Some of the others? Not so easy.
Good news is we can pick and choose.
@"purplefaithful" said: In the case of Abe Lincoln, its pretty easy for me to honor.
Ol Abe going down in Boston, if the Mayor/comrades have their way.
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/06/12/metro/tear-down-lincoln-statue-petition-says/
Scumbag Jefferson got his just reward, also. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/portland-protesters-tear-down-racist-statue-of-thomas-jefferson/ar-BB15vYtY
@"purplefaithful" said: And these my friend Jimmy are the uncomfortable conversations us whities are having today. There is a big difference between remembering and honoring.In the case of Abe Lincoln, its pretty easy for me to honor. Some of the others? Not so easy.
Good news is we can pick and choose.
Abe easy to honor? yikes.
@"purplefaithful" said: And these my friend Jimmy are the uncomfortable conversations we whities are having today.Speak for yourself. I never owned slaves, never discriminated. Never uttered a racist joke. I'm not uncomfortable.
(I'd say I had black friends--20% of my facebook friends-- but that's considered a guilty-white default position, so I
won't mention it)
and...there is no "conversation".
There is tearing down of statues, by lawlessness. At least it's happening everywhere now, not just the South. B)
(differentiated by elected officials choosing to remove statues, which I'm fine with--they're accountable at the ballot box)
And cute you think your white opinion matters. It doesn't.
To wit, a sampling:
https://ignatiansolidarity.net/blog/2020/05/29/white-people-inherent-racism/
https://twitter.com/ariesgodmother/status/1131968398441799681?lang=en
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2020-06-15/black-lives-matter-white-celebrities-support
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/opinion-dear-tomi-lahren-please-stop-saying-you-dont-see-n690801
https://www.insider.com/celebrities-influencers-support-black-lives-matter-stop-posting-instagram-2020-6
You've been negated from the discussion by the color of your skin. No?
@"purplefaithful" said: There is a big difference between remembering and honoring.
This is a profound statement. And I agree.
But can there be either (remembering & honoring), if all vestiges (statues, etc) are gone?
And yet, you left out LEARNING (from historical markers), from the remembering and honoring options.
Who really wants to remember Auschwitz? (no one)
Who really wants to honor Auschwitz? (no one)
Q?: Why the hell would the Smithsonian want to protect Auschwitz?
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/can-auschwitz-be-saved-4650863/
A?: Of course, so we can witness and LEARN from man's most inhumane moment(s) in recent modern history.
You don't wipe history because it's 'uncomfortable'. You LEARN from it.
Choosing to be willfully (politically correct) ignorant, is not an option. (For me)
@"savannahskol" said:Oh there are plenty of conversations, you're just not participating.@"purplefaithful" said: There is a big difference between remembering and honoring.This is a profound statement. And I agree.
But can there be either (remembering & honoring), if all vestiges (statues, etc) are gone?And yet, you left out LEARNING (from historical markers), from the remembering and honoring options.
Who really wants to remember Auschwitz? (no one)
Who really wants to honor Auschwitz? (no one)
Q?: Why the hell would the Smithsonian want to protect Auschwitz?
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/can-auschwitz-be-saved-4650863/
A?: Of course, so we can witness and LEARN from man's most inhumane moment(s) in recent modern history.You don't wipe history because it's 'uncomfortable'. You LEARN from it.
Choosing to be willfully (politically correct) ignorant, is not an option. (For me)One thing you and I can agree on (there is probably more, but we wont find it together) is we can't forget history...You know the rest about repeating it.
I dont have an answer about statues and monuments I really don't. I think it's up to each city/state to do what they feel is the right thing for them.
We can go really broad with this too. What do we do about Gone with the Wind? The blatant racism in Peter Pan and its depiction of Native Americans? Does the Jazz Singer honor jews? Depict blacks in a racist fashion? Or both?
Look what Mpls did to the Rondo neighborhood back when it was expanding infrastructure and highway 94. That was institutional racism and the results are some of the biggest quality of living disparities between whites/blacks in any state of the union.
Good old MN nice, the land of Mary Tyler Moore ain't very nice if you're a person of color.
And say goodbye to this old gal as Quaker Oats just put a bullet in Aunt Jemima...I paint it progress and awakening among society. Others wont see it that way.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/17/business/aunt-jemima-logo-change/index.html
Sambos (restaurant chain). Aunt Jemima. The Washington Redskins. Its all racist and all ridiculous if you take some time and think about it. But Sticky, that's crazy! Does this really offend you?? No, it doesn't. Guess why? I'm white. But if I think about it and use empathy to put myself in a person's shoes that could be offended, yeah it makes all kinds of sense that it's racist.
Are people too PC and sensitive today? Absolutely. Does the race card get thrown out too quickly? Sure does. Are some just ready to be outraged over anything? Yes. But that doesn't mean that all of the above I mentioned isn't racist or shouldn't be changed. Along with other things.
So should the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution be abolished because of who wrote them? I would vote no, but that's just me.
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