Kaepernick Brings His Fight to the Ice Cream Aisle

Colin Kaepernick now has his own ice cream flavor. Ben & Jerry's on Thursday announced "Change the Whirled," a non-dairy flavor (in honor of Kaepernick's vegan diet) coming to stores early next year, per Deadspin. The former San Francisco 49ers quarterback, who is still without an NFL team at the moment, will donate all of his proceeds from the frozen dessert to Know Your Rights Camp, which he founded. Ben & Jerry's will match that amount. The organization is on a mission to "advance the liberation and well-being of Black and Brown communities through education, self-empowerment, mass-mobilization and the creation of new systems that elevate the next generation of change leaders."

The Vermont-based Ben & Jerry's is well known as an extremely progressive company, having argued in the past for defunding the police and championing many other causes. Kaepernick, of course, made waves when he started the trend of athletes kneeling while the National Anthem is performed before games, in order to bring attention to people of color killed and brutalized by police. At USA Today, Nancy Armour notes that the Ben & Jerry's flavor gives "his message the mass-market treatment, softening it for those who remain resistant to Kaepernick’s fight in a way only the iconic ice cream maker can, one spoonful at a time." (More Ben and Jerry's stories.)