People are divided on Colin Kaepernick being named GQ's 'Citizen of the Year.'
Love him or hate him, he's a great example of good citizenry.
In its annual "Men of the Year" issue, GQ Magazine named former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick its "Citizen of the Year," and boyyyyy, do people have feelings about that.
As with all things related to Kaepernick, who rose to fame by leading the 49ers to a Super Bowl appearance and later gained notoriety for his on-field protests of police brutality and racism, the reaction to the news was predictably polarizing.
Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images.
The reaction to GQ's announcement has been positive, for the most part.
Mat Elfring praised Kaepernick for donating "time and money to worthy causes" and for getting "people talking about police treatment of citizens."
"You may not agree with his actions during the National Anthem, but he got people talking. That's important," Elfring tweeted.
"Let's continue to shine a spotlight on how law enforcement has been infiltrated by white supremacists (according to the FBI)," tweeted Tariq Nasheed, referring to the agency's April 2015 counterterrorism policy guide.
"[Kaepernick's] movement is not just about football. It's about racial justice and equity for all of us," tweeted Simran Jeet Singh.
"Good job GQ," praised Luna Malbroux.
As with all things Kaepernick, however, the announcement was also met with some predictable right-wing backlash.
Conservative author and frequent Fox News guest Dan Bongino responded by calling Kaepernick an "imbecile." Right-wing activist Scott Presler said he is "proudly and unabashedly NOT a GQ citizen." Ainsley Earhardt of "Fox and Friends" asked why GQ would pick Kaepernick and not, say, "the veterans that have lost their legs, their limbs, their lives fighting for our country."
Beyond the magazine cover, GQ laid out just why Kaepernick is so deserving of the "Citizen of the Year" title — with a little help from his friends.
The article, "Colin Kaepernick Will Not Be Silenced," is a masterful display of photojournalism paired with comments delivered in the style of an oral history. Kaepernick, interestingly enough, is not among the quoted, and for a very good reason. The story's authors write that "as his public identity has begun to shift from football star to embattled activist, he has grown wise to the power of his silence."
Filmmaker Ava DuVernay, Women's March co-chair Tamika D. Mallory, former Kaepernick teammate Eric Reid, artist and activist Harry Belafonte, rapper J. Cole, and more tell the story of Colin Kaepernick and his impact on the world as you've never heard it before.
DuVernay calls Kaepernick's activism a form of "art," saying that she believes "art is seeing the world that doesn't exist."
"A lot of people excel at creativity — making TV, movies, painting, writing books — but you can be an artist in your own life. Civil rights activists are artists. Athletes are artists. People who imagine something that is not there. I think some folks see his protests, his resistance, as not his work. Not intentional. Not strategic. Not as progressive action. As if this was just a moment that he got caught up in. This was work. This is work that he's doing."
Kaepernick's detractors cling to a very one-dimensional caricature of him as a snobby, ungrateful, multi-millionaire malcontent, but it's simply not accurate.
Kaepernick's jersey sales skyrocketed around the start of his protest during the 2016 season. He quickly announced plans to donate all royalties he received on those sales to charitable organizations working in oppressed communities.
Additionally, he pledged to donate $100,000 to various charitable groups each month for 10 months — $1 million in total. Kaepernick set up a website where people could hold him accountable, detailing which groups received money, how much they got, and what they planned to use it on.
Money went to organizations such as immigration advocacy organization United We Dream; Phoenix's anti-prison privatization group, American Friends Service Committee; and Life After Hate, an organization dedicated to helping former members of white supremacist groups reintegrate into society. He also started the Know Your Rights Camp to help empower and educate people, especially when interacting with law enforcement.
Whether you love him, hate him, or feel ambivalent about Colin Kaepernick as a quarterback or activist, you can't deny that he's having a big impact on the world.
He took a knee — not in protest of the flag, the anthem, the military, or law enforcement, but to shine a light on the very real racism that exists in this country and the very real injustices faced by so many without an NFL-sized platform to speak from.
He is doing what he can to make the world a better, fairer place through both his actions and words. Patriotism isn't pretending that the country's problems don't exist, it's acknowledging and addressing the ones that do.
For that, Colin Kaepernick is a model citizen in his own right.
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An actual beaver dam on the now-thriving Price River
Not just coworkers—family, friends, strangers, kids… 
Imagine having to go so badly but being out of euros. 
Anything hobbit-esque can't be wrong. 
But what if you need pain meds AND mascara?!
Imagine how this would affect childcare.
Honestly…where's the lie? 
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Urgent dash to the bathroom! 🚪🏃♂️
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There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."