Colin Kaepernick's decision to kneel during the national anthem in 2016 ignited debate about racial justice.

Research Context: The study examines African American political engagement after President Obama left office, using data from the 2017 Black Voter Project (BVP) Pilot Study.

Findings: We discover that strong approval for Kaepernick's protest correlated with increased political participation among blacks during this period. This effect persisted even when accounting for other potential mobilizing factors.

Significance: Our results show that Kaepernick's actions moderated the influence of group identity on political action, serving as a powerful catalyst despite occurring outside election season.