Colin Kaepernick Mural Unveiled in Tampa Ahead of Super Bowl LV

Ben & Jerry’s & Know Your Rights Camp

A mural celebrating Colin Kaepernick's activism was unveiled in Tampa ahead of Super Bowl LV.

The mural, located in Old West Tampa, was sponsored by the ice cream company Ben & Jerry's and developed in collaboration with the artist and activist Brandan “BMike” Odums, a friend of Kaepernick's. 

The 30'x90' mural on Moses White Blvd. features pictures of Tampa youth alongside volunteers of the Know Your Rights Camp, a nonprofit Kaepernick started in 2016 to help Black and Brown communities. Kaepernick is featured on the mural raising a fist, alongside others wearing shirts that say "I KNOW MY RIGHTS."

Kaepernick previously teamed up with Ben & Jerry's in December 2020 on a new permanent flavor called Colin Kaepernick's Change the Whirled. The quarterback has not played in the NFL since 2016, when he took a knee during the national anthem to protest police brutality and racial inequality.

"As we look back, it's clear that Colin was on the right side of history," Ben & Jerry's head of global activism Chris Miller said in a release. "His pre-game protests were before George Floyd’s murder; before the 2020 summer of racial reckoning. He knew a long time ago that we need to address the root causes of racism and the structures of our society that are so brutal to Black people. We wanted to be part of the effort to honor Colin’s courage and legacy because we share the same values.”

Ben & Jerry's also put up a billboard in Tampa honoring Kaepernick and promoting the new flavor. 

The company announced it would hold a free, COVID-19-safe community drive-through at the mural site at noon on Super Bowl Sunday. Attendees would be eligible to receive a family meal, a pint of Kaepernick's dessert and gift certificates to a local salon and barbershop. Four Tampa community groups will also receive $5,000 each as part of the initiative.