Filipino-American and American Idol Season 11 runner-up Jessica Sanchez, 22, is the latest performer to take a knee during or after a performance of the American national anthem during NFL football games.
The performance was the latest of several singers who took the knee during their performances of the Star Spangled Banner, the title of the United States’ national anthem.
According to the New York Post, singer Rico Lavelle first took a knee last Sept. 24 during a Lions game in Detroit, and country singer Meghan Linsey and her guitarist did the same later on that day in Nashville during a Titans game.
More American football players have been following the lead of football player Colin Kapernick, who was playing for the San Francisco 49ers when he first decided to kneel instead of stand during the national anthem in August 2016, a protest against racism and police brutality in the US.
U.S. President Donald Trump has been vocal about NFL players who don’t stand for the national anthem, calling it “disrespectful,” and criticized the NFL for not penalizing players who protest standing for the anthem.
A video uploaded by a fan who attended the game Oakland Raiders game last Oct. 15, shows Sanchez standing for most of the song until she sang the word “brave” toward the end of the anthem. You can see Sanchez take the knee at :49 seconds.
Sanchez went to Facebook live to explain why she took a knee.
“It’s something that I stand for, that I believe in. I feel like I’ve always been very quiet about how I felt, and my opinions about things like this. And… ever since that ended and people have been giving me crazy feedback. It’s pushed me even more to have a voice and be a part of the conversation. I realize I do have a voice and this is what I stand for. I don’t want to be quiet anymore,” she explained. “I hope you don’t see it as disrespectful because it’s not disrespectful.”
— Jessica Sanchez (@JessicaESanchez) October 16, 2017
While Kapernick’s protest of the flag started before Trump’s term, more players have been taking a knee to protest escalating racial tensions under his administration.
Sanchez, who is from San Diego, was 15 when she placed second during season 11 of American Idol in 2012. Her mother is an immigrant originally from Bataan, while her father is a Mexican-American from Texas.
She has visited the Philippines several times and had her first solo concert at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in February 2013.
