Former NFL quarterback Michael Vick has some poor advice for Colin Kaepernick — get a haircut if you want to get hired.
During an episode of FS1’s Speak For Yourself, Vick offered the former San Francisco 49er advice on how to rebuild his image, stating, “The most important thing that he needs to do is just try to be presentable.”
“The first thing we got to get Colin to do is cut his hair,” Vick said.
“Listen, I’m not up here to try to be politically correct, but even if he puts cornrows in it, I don’t think he should represent himself in that way in terms of just a hairstyle. Just go clean cut. Why not? You’re already dealing with a lot of controversy surrounding this issue. What he needs to do is just try to be presentable.”
“I just think perception and image is everything, and listen, it’s not the Colin Kaepernick that we’ve known since he entered the National Football League. And I’m just going off my personal experiences, but I love the guy to death and I want him also to succeed on and off the field. And this has to be a start for him.”
Doubtful that Kaepernick’s problem (read: his refusal to bow down to white supremacy) will be solved with a simple haircut, but Vick, who was found guilty on dog-fighting charges, says he was able to resurrect his career by rebranding.
“I started to see what was most important and that was cleaning up, changing my image, not just for public perception but for the judge and everything I was about to get involved in. It was a difficult process and it was one that I didn’t like, but it was one that I had to accept.”
Article continues after video.
Fans took to Twitter to blast Vick for the poor advice, with Kaepernick responding with the definition of Stockholm syndrome.
Boston poet laureate Porsha Olayiwola isn’t just a wordsmith—she’s a community builder. Her latest project, justBook-ish, an independent bookstore in Dorchester, Massachusetts, is as much about connection as it is about the written word. As Olayiwola shared with The Boston Globe, her vision is for the bookstore to function as “a literary gathering space, which means that you should theoretically be able to come in here, whether or not you can afford something, and feel comfortable.”
Opened in November 2024 with business partner Bing Broderick, justBook-ishstands out for a few reasons. It’s one of the few Black-owned bookstores in Boston and one of the rare spots in the Dorchester neighborhoodopen late into the evening. This makes it a welcome haven for locals looking for a place to meet, work or simply browse.
But the heart of justBook-ish lies in its mission: spotlighting writers who challenge the status quo. “We’re hoping to highlight folks who have been traditionally marginalized,” Olayiwola said.
The idea for justBook-ish came from a personal need. Olayiwola recalled, “I remember being in my home office and saying, ‘Dang, I need to have a late-night meeting with somebody, and they’re not coming to my house. Where can I walk to at 7 p.m.? Because everything’s closed near here,’” she told the Globe.
Over the three years it took to bring the bookstore to life, Olayiwola and Broderick said they reached out to other bookstores in Boston for advice. When their efforts didn’t yield much, they decided to create something entirely their own—a space where the community could thrive.
“People do rest as a political act,” Olayiwola said, “but I’m arguing for leisure and fun and joy as a kind of political act.”
That community spirit is already taking root. Jeremiah Ancrum, a local resident, recently hosted
an open mic night at the bookstore after simply asking Olayiwola if he could. “That just speaks to [Olayiwola’s] character,” Ancrum said. “How well she’s able to curate with the community, find things that work for them and even build a space for them to be felt, heard and included.”
Events like these reflect the bookstore’s dual structure: a for-profit side that focuses on book, food and drink sales, and a nonprofit arm, Words As Worlds, which hosts workshops, tea tastings and more.
Balancing this hybrid model hasn’t been easy. “What’s complicated about our model is that we couldn’t spend nonprofit dollars in the buying of any equipment or inventory related to the sale of books or the sale of food and beverage,” Broderick explained. But their efforts have drawn the attention of influential supporters, including Massachusetts Senator Ayanna Pressley.
Pressley praised the mission of justBook-ish as an “affirmative statement of the power of our intellectual freedoms, the power of diverse and representative authors and stories against the backdrop of a rise of draconian actions to roll back those gains made.”
The bookstore also hosts workshops on publishing and selling books, empowering aspiring authors to share their stories. Patrons like Josie Hanna Colon, a Northeastern University student who performed at the open mic night, are feeling the impact.“Knowing that we now have a space where a lot of Black authors are highlighted, I think that definitely will be just a general motivator for the community to be like, ‘Hey guys, we belong in spaces like these. So come by,’” Colon said.
For Olayiwola, it’s all about making room for voices that too often go unheard. “As soon as the doors open, it’s no longer ours. It belongs to other people,” she told the Globe.
That ethos captures the essence of justBook-ish in Boston—a space where words build bridges, stories inspire and everyone is welcome.