| OZY Tribe, I asked for your feedback, and I sure got it. My email this week on the upcoming launch of the new season of OZY’s hit podcast series, The Thread, has generated heated response in both directions. The brand-new season, out tomorrow (Monday, Sept. 10), will chart the history of nonviolent resistance backward in time, from Martin Luther King Jr. to the likes of Leo Tolstoy, William Lloyd Garrison and world-changing figures who have remained in the shadows. I took the invisible thread that links these icons and connected it to Colin Kaepernick, the controversial former San Francisco 49ers quarterback who provoked a national debate by kneeling during the national anthem. Your passionate and thoughtful reactions delved into the very nature of protest, nonviolent or otherwise. Many voiced excitement about The Thread and its exploration of such a topical issue. Others disputed the idea of joining the dots between Dr. King and an athlete who they feel disrespected the American flag, especially in the week that Nike unveiled him as the face of their advertising campaign. Here’s what you had to say: It’s one thing when someone who has it good takes a knee. It really doesn’t take much courage, at least way less than a young man or woman who faces death on every mission in battle. Taking a knee is offensive to me. However, the Amish take a nonviolent approach. Their beliefs, and living like they do with no grandstanding and flaunting themselves, achieve much more in the scheme of life. — Kathy *** Football players who take a knee are protesting in a nonviolent way. Would you rather have violence? — Elizabeth *** MLK = Real rights for all U.S. citizens when there was blatant disparity. Kaepernick = A person who has no idea of sacrifice. — Reta *** Thoughtful article, but politics and sports should remain separate. Many think what Kaep is doing demeans not only sports but Blacks too. — Kenneth *** Nike, I salute you. Kaepernick, you are a better man than I am. — David *** Protests should be off business property and on personal time. Doing otherwise just invites chaos. No business should be put in the position of deciding which protests to allow. The First Amendment is critical but there is a time and place. — Bill *** | 
