Kaepernick calls for continued protests in Harvard acceptance speech

Former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick made a plea for continued protests against racial injustice while receiving Harvard University's highest honor in African and African-American studies.

Kaepernick was one of eight people presented with the W.E.B. Du Bois Medal at the sixth annual Hutchins Center Honors on Thursday. He requested that his speech not be recorded or broadcasted, but he did allow his remarks to be on the record.

In the speech, which was transcribed by Eric Kane of 7News, Kaepernick discussed a visit he made in 2016 to Oakland's Castlemont High School football team, who joined him in taking a knee during the national anthem.

"And one of the young brothers says, 'We don't get to eat at home, so we're going to eat on this field,'" Kaepernick said. "That moment has never left me. And I've carried that everywhere I went. And I think that's the reality of what I've fought for, what so many of us have fought for. People live with this every single day. And we expect them to thrive in situations where they're just trying to survive.

"And I feel like it's not only my responsibility, but all our responsibilities as people that are in positions of privilege, in positions of power, to continue to fight for them and uplift them, empower them," he continued. "Because if we don't, we become complicit in the problem. It is our duty to fight for them and we are going to continue to fight for them."

Kaepernick also spoke about his Nike campaign and the quote that was at the heart of it.

"As I reflected on that, it made me think of if we all believe something, we won't have to sacrifice everything," he said.