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New Prince George鈥檚 County Executive Aisha Braveboy鈥檚 (D) reception in Ocean City was star-studded already 鈥� at least by Maryland politics standards.
In attendance were the governor and first lady, the lieutenant governor, the comptroller and the state鈥檚 senior U.S. senator.
And then former NFL player Colin Kaepernick showed up and stole the show.
County officials teased a new partnership with the quarterback-turned-civil-rights-activist, focused on boosting student literacy training with artificial intelligence tools.
碍补别辫别谤苍颈肠办听聽an AI start-up called Lumi last year, which aims to help storytellers publish and merchandise their work independently, 鈥渢ransforming any creator into Disney,鈥� according to its website.
He has been busy recently coordinating with local school systems. Earlier Thursday, 碍补别辫别谤苍颈肠办听聽in Rockville at a Montgomery County Public Schools summer meeting for administrators. Just a week ago, he unveiled a literacy partnership with the聽.
Taking the microphone at Ocean City鈥檚 Spain Wine Bar, Kaepernick praised Braveboy鈥檚 鈥渋ncredible leadership鈥� to a crowd of local officials gathered at the reception during the Maryland Association of Counties conference.
鈥淎I is not some distant future,鈥� Kaepernick said. 鈥淚t is changing careers. It is changing the economy. It is changing industries. Now, we need to be at the forefront of it. Our students need to be at the forefront.鈥�
Branndon Jackson, chairman of the Prince George鈥檚 County school board, said Thursday鈥檚 visit by Kaepernick began at a different gathering thousands of miles away: A California conference for Black educators, where Kaepernick spoke about using the Lumi platform to teach children to read.
鈥淭his is a great opportunity to partner with Colin Kaepernick and bring this to Prince George鈥檚 County,鈥� Jackson told the crowd Thursday night. 鈥淚 hope you all support us in this great effort, because we want to make sure that our kids can read on grade level, because we have some of the brightest scholars in Prince George鈥檚 County.鈥�
Kaepernick played in six seasons for the San Francisco 49ers, but he is perhaps best known for taking a stance against racism and police brutality in the United States, by kneeling during the national anthem during games in 2016. Kaepernick鈥檚 actions spurred a larger protest movement, but after he became an NFL free agent the next season, he was never re-signed by another team.
Kaepernick 鈥渄ecided to stand up for his people,鈥� Braveboy said at Thursday鈥檚 event, sponsored by Employ Prince George鈥檚, a workforce training organization, as well as Braveboy鈥檚 office.
鈥淭his man sacrificed the career that he has worked for since he was a young child. That鈥檚 sacrifice, that鈥檚 leadership. That鈥檚 who he is,鈥� Braveboy said. 鈥淎nd that is why I鈥檓 so grateful that he has decided that he wants to bring his talent.鈥�
Prince George鈥檚 County Council Chairman Ed Burroughs said further information about county programming associated with Kaepernick could be coming in the next few months.
鈥淔rom the first conversation, he said: 鈥榃hat can I do to support Prince George鈥檚 County?鈥欌�� Burroughs said. 鈥淭he county executive and I gave him a list of things he could do to support Prince George鈥檚 County. And we thought it would be good to bring him to meet the people of Prince George鈥檚 County.鈥�
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) invoked Kaepernick to describe Democrats鈥� battles against President Donald Trump (R).
鈥淲e are going on offense. You can be sure about that,鈥� Van Hollen said. 鈥淲hat Donald Trump and his cronies want us to do, they want us to shut up and go away. Are we going to shut up and go away? Hell no.鈥�
Moore offered his own pep talk.
鈥淎 lot of times people will come up to me right now and they鈥檒l say things like: 鈥楲isten, things seem really crazy right now,,鈥欌�� Moore said. 鈥淎nd they鈥檙e just like: 鈥業 just want it to get easier.鈥欌��
鈥淗ere鈥檚 my ask, Prince George鈥檚 County: Let鈥檚 not ask for it to get easier, because it won鈥檛,鈥� Moore continued. 鈥淟et鈥檚 just make sure that we can show how much tougher we are.鈥�
Kaepernick isn鈥檛 the first of Braveboy鈥檚 new teammates attracting headlines. She has stepped up to聽聽her pick to lead the county鈥檚 environmental department, who was fired from that same department a decade ago for 鈥済ross negligence,鈥� a finding that the Maryland court system upheld.
At Thursday鈥檚 event, Braveboy once again struck a hopeful and defiant tone, touting a renewed litter cleanup effort and arguing that she will pilot two large redevelopment projects to increase tax revenues for the county: At the soon-to-be-vacant Six Flags site in Mitchellville and the current Washington Commanders stadium in Landover, which the team hopes to leave by 2030 for a new home in Washington, D.C.
鈥淪ix Flags, on 500 acres, generates, to us, about $3 million,鈥� she said. 鈥淲hen we finish there, there will be tens of millions of dollars generated.鈥�
And of course, there was a reminder that this will be Moore鈥檚 final MACo conference before next year鈥檚 gubernatorial primary.
鈥淲e need to ensure our governor gets reelected,鈥� Braveboy said. 鈥淭here are so many states around here who want a governor like our governor, and he is leading the way.鈥�
