By Franco (2020)

How to Start a Revolution by Kneeling.

On 14 August 2016, a relatively unseen event spiralled and started a movement.  Colin Kaepernick, a quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, kneeled during the playing of the national anthem.  While this doesn’t seem like much of an event to rest the world, in the USA it was a big thing.

In the USA and Canada, the national anthem is played ahead of sporting events, unlike every other country where anthems are reserved only for international matches. For the benefit of international readers, Americans are generally overly patriotic.  Having travelled the world, I see people are proud of their countries but not to the extent of the flag-waving that happens in the USA.  When I was living in Michigan, I had to pick up a German colleague at the airport.  Driving from the airport, he saw an overabundance of flags and asked if it was a national holiday in the country.  I said, no, Americans are just this way, they are expected to show they are more patriotic than their neighbour.   Also, Sunday football is almost a religious event in the USA as that is the most popular game in the country.

So back to Kaepernick.  In the summer of 2016, there were several unarmed Black people shot by police and subjected to police brutality.  Kaepernick decided to kneel during the national anthem.  The motive for kneeling was to protest the anthem of a country Black Americans are supposed to love, which is the same that oppresses them. He was protesting the widespread discrimination of Black Americans.  He did this regardless of the repercussions that it might bring him.

His kneeling as seen as an unpatriotic action, and was then equated to disrespecting the Armed Forces and the people who died defending the country, which is a stretch.  As he proceeded to kneel during the national anthem at games in September 2016, he was starting to be noticed which resulted in him eventually being shunned by the National Football League.  He has not played a game since in the league.  Over the following years, this form of protest was aided by the Black Lives Matter movement, and it galvanised with the killing of George Floyd in May 2020 triggering social justice protests across the nation.  Protests against racial injustice spread not only across the United States but also across the world.

When the National Basketball Association restarted after the COVID-19 lockdown, all the players were sporting anti-racism slogans on their jerseys.  Entire teams, including coaches, were now kneeling during the anthem.  The acceptance of this form of protest is a considerable change from the initial reaction to Kaepernick’s protest.  It also marks a difference between the NBA’s reaction compared to the NFL’s reaction, but then again, the NBA is comprised of roughly 75% Black players.

INITIAL PROTEST

Let’s examine the chart for the first kneeling during the anthem.  The time of the chart is 16:00 on 14 August 2016 in San Francisco which was the listed time for the start of the game.   What can we interpret from this chart?

 

  1. In this chart, Jupiter, the ruler of the chart, is opposite Chiron, the wounded healer. Suggesting there is a wound forced on you from someone else and it wants to be healed. Chiron also represents the maverick.  Here a man goes against the norm and is ready to pay the price because he wants his message of hurt and pain to be known.
  2. The Sun or the focus of the chart is in a trine aspect to Uranus the planet of rebelling. Uranus is in the fourth house of home, so this rebellion is ready to shake the foundations a bit.
  3. Mars and Saturn is anger and frustration, and they are in the twelfth house of self-undoing and institutions. Saturn rules his second house of values, and this represents his people not being valued.   His anger at the situation was his undoing, at least with Kaepernick’s NFL career (NFL = institution).

PROTEST AGAINST USA’s CHART

Now, let’s examine this chart against the backdrop to the chart of the United States.  For the USA’s chart, I am using the Alphee Lavoie rectified chart.   On the outside, we have the transits of the day. 

 

  1. Saturn, representing limitations, and the status quo is on the ascendant of the chart. Saturn forces one to look at one’s limitations and structure in their life.  The kneeling chart was the birth of a movement, so this move to the US is forcing it to re-examine its values.  As we have seen since then, events like the removal of the confederate flags and the removal of statues honouring slave owners culminating in 2020.
  2. Saturn is opposite the rebellious Uranus. It was the start of a slow (Saturn) moving revolution (Uranus).  Mars is opposite Uranus, and it deals with anger with the issue.  Uranus in the USA chart rules the third house of communication.  Mars is action, and Saturn is inaction with the combination being frustration.  They represent control action which best describes the initial protest.  Obviously, the revolution has taken a turn four years later and has gone from inaction to action and practically war.
  3. Mars, anger and action, is in a quincunx to Jupiter, the ruler of the chart, so Kaepernick’s actions would challenge the forward face of the country. The quincunx aspect is akin to not being able to spit and not being able to swallow.  That is apropos as Jupiter also represents justice, and the road to social justice and equality for Black Americans has been a long and arduous one.

KAEPERNICK’S BIRTH CHART

What does Kaepernick’s chart have to say about this?  We don’t have a birth time for him, so we only know half of his story.

  1. He has the Sun in Scorpio. Scorpios are very focused and do not care much for trivialities.  They want to get to the heart of the matter.  Pluto conjunct his Sun makes him very tenacious and can make him a very obsessive person.  He can exude power, and to some people that could be perceived as threatening.
  2. Jupiter in Aries suggests one who will fight for his beliefs. The Moon in noon chart can move ±6° but seeing how he is focused on his convictions it must be close to Jupiter, and both are opposite Mars saying they are not afraid to get into a battle over beliefs.
  3. Uranus (rebellion) is opposite Chiron, the hurt which will not heal. Kaepernick’s Uranus is conjunct the Galactic Centre which is at 27° Sagittarius.  Uranus is a slow-moving planet, so many people will have this; however, he also has his Chiron opposite the Galactic Centre.
  4. Why is Kaepernick heard but many others with this configuration not? He also has Mercury (communication) in a sextile position to the Galactic Centre/Uranus, suggesting he can use his voice to be heard.

From the astrology of a seemingly innocuous event, with the right person at the right place, one can see it helped spark a challenge to the status quo and the identity of the nation.  He became synonymous with protest and a cog in the wheel of progress.  I am not suggesting the current protests were solely a result of his actions, but it was a catalyst.    Change is necessary and needs to happen now.  How a violent and terrorist group like the KKK is still not labelled a terror group in this day and age is astounding.   What do you think they do, bake sales? The ball is rolling, and it is not going to stop.

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