Morehouse, NFL Want To Make Pro Athletes Better Social Activists

Professional athletes from the worlds of football, basketball, and even professional wrestling are gathering at Morehouse College in Atlanta this week. They’re learning how to become better social activists.

It’s been more than a year since NFL players like Colin Kaepernick started kneeling during the national anthem to protest police violence.

Now the league is partnering with Morehouse to host a workshop about effective social activism. It started Wednesday and runs through Friday.

“We want to meet each of these athlete advocates where they are. How is it that they want to be better? We want to make sure that we amplify that,” David Wall Rice, who helped develop the workshop, said.

Rice, who teaches psychology at Morehouse, said the program is not necessarily about encouraging activism.

Participants will learn communication and public relations skills from politicians and social activists. Rice said the NFL hasn’t put any restrictions on the curriculum.

“There’s so many different ways to be an agent of social change and social justice,” he said “You see that within sport, you see it within entertainment.”

Rice said he wants participating athletes will learn to do the most with their highly visible platforms. He’s also hopes other professional sports leagues take notice and consider hosting similar events.