Dear Nike,
I
want to have a conversation about this hat. It's over 13 years old.
I don't remember when I bought it exactly, I don't remember where I
bought it. But what I do remember is why I wore it.
On
August 10, 2005, I was a newlywed with two young sons. My husband Tim
and I had toasted our one month anniversary the night before, and I was
enjoying a rare evening to myself, catching up on reading and relishing
the quiet. Until there was a knock on my door. I had no way of
knowing that the small act of turning a knob was about to shatter my
life into a million pieces. I sat numb and in sheer disbelief as I was
told that my husband, while in a foot pursuit and subsequent struggle
with a suspect that ended up in the road, had been struck and killed by
an oncoming vehicle. He took his last breath lying in the middle of
the street. What I lost in that moment is indescribable. I had to
watch his mother be dealt the most agonizing blow a parent can face, and
I couldn't comfort her because I was in my own hell. I had to find a
way to gut my own children in the gentlest way possible, and tell them
that this man they had come to love, who they looked up to, who cared
for them as his own, would never walk through our door again.
I
don't know if you've ever attended a police funeral, but watching grown
men who've seen the absolute worst things a civilian can imagine, break
down and sob over the casket of their brother is an image that never
leaves you. The bagpipes haunt my dreams to this day, but it was the
faces of my children, the innocence that abandoned them at such a tender
age that brought me to my knees.
I
had no choice but to move on. We trudged zombie-like through our days
for weeks and weeks on end. I never left the house except to drive
the boys to school, or buy food we barely touched. I realized that I
had to do something. I had to move my body or I was going to crawl out
of my own skin. So I put on the only cap I had and I went for a
run. It was short, it hurt and it was ugly. But I felt, just for
those few moments on that road, like a normal person. So I kept doing
it. I put that hat on and I ran every day. Sometimes I had to stop
and sit down because I was sobbing so hard. Sometimes I was so angry I
ran until I thought I my heart would stop, sometimes I would just
scream over and over again, but it still felt better than doing nothing.
That
black cap became a symbol to me, it is sweat stained and it's shape is
gone, the buckle in the back barely closes; but that hat represents my
family's rise from the ashes. It stands for the strength and the
sacrifice we made loving a man who had a job that we all knew could end
his life, every time he walked out that door. And it did. And I
accept that.
I still wear this hat, I wore it on my run this morning. And then I heard about your new ad campaign.
Colin
Kapernick has the absolute right to protest anything he damn well
pleases. I don't dispute that for one second. My father, my husband
and many, many friends have all served this country and were willing to
fight for his right to kneel. But that right goes both ways. I also
have a right to express my disgust at your decision to portray him as
some kind of hero. What, exactly has Colin Kapernick sacrificed? His
multi million dollar paycheck...? Nope, you already gave him one of
those. His reputation? No, he's been fawned over by celebrities and
media alike. Funny, Tim Tebow was never called courageous when he
knelt. This man, whose contempt for law enforcement fits him like
a...sock, has promoted an agenda that has been proven false time and
time again, in study after study. But facts don't seem to matter
anymore. This man has thrown his support behind divisive anti-police
groups, and donated money directly to a fugitive from justice who
escaped prison after killing a police officer. I question the
judgement of anyone who would put someone this controversial and
divisive at the head of an advertising campaign, but it isn't my company
to run.
I don't know if I'll have the
heart to ever get rid of this cap, but I will tell you this, I'll never
purchase another Nike product as long as I live. You got this one
wrong Nike, terribly, terribly wrong.
Sherry Graham-Potter, surviving spouse of Deputy Tim Graham
= = = = = = = = = = = = = =
I received a reply from one of my email friends :
Thanks. Yes, very worthwhile piece.
Makes you wonder why the NFL does not challenge Nike on this. The swoosh logo is plastered all over the league, and somebody negotiates these contracts.
and responded to him with this:
My suspicion is that too many are simply corporate "wonks" who merely go along, to get along, and not lose their gravy train position by standing up for principle. In other words, they've been conditioned by the past, and haven't adjusted to the present under the current administration.
