Imagine this yummy ice cream combination starting with a luscious caramel sunflower butter base and blended with fudge chips, graham cracker and chocolate cookie swirls. Sounds dreamy-delicious, right? Well, you can try it for yourself when January 2021 rolls around. The sweet treat by iconic Ben & Jerry’s is called “Change the Whirled,” and it was made in honor of former NFL player and social justice activist Colin Kaepernick. The ice cream company says it will donate a portion of the proceeds to Kaepernick’s “Know Your Rights” campaign, a nonprofit that is devoted to Black and Brown communities. Kaepernick has not played in an NFL game since 2016 when he took a knee to protest racial inequality during the National Anthem. The icecream is a non-dairy frozen dessert and vegan like the famous quarterback, and depending on where you live in the United States, the dessert will cost you between $4.99 and $5.49. It sounds like a nice tribute to Kaepernick, but some folks are giving Ben & Jerry the thumbs down.

Colin Kaepernick doesn’t listen to the haters and remains a strong voice in the sporting world about generating awareness on systematic oppression and police brutality. He’s become so controversial, that the NFL continues to stay away from hiring him as a quarterback for another team. That’s okay because Kaepernick is enjoying his partnership with the Vermont ice cream company. In fact, he tweeted on social media about the new collaboration and that 100 percent of his proceeds would be going to @yourrightscamp with matching support from Ben & Jerry’s. Kaepernick also stated that he hopes that his partnership with the ice cream brand will amplify calls to defund and abolish the police.

The ice cream brand has never backed away from difficult issues and has been a strong voice for social justice for many years now. The pair, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, were school chums from middle school who began making ice cream in Burlington, Vermont, and years later, eventually created an ice cream empire. Ben & Jerry’s was the top-selling ice cream brand of 2019. On June 3rd, 2020, the ice cream company released a statement expressing outrage over the killing of George Floyd at the hands of the Minneapolis Police Department and calling for legislative changes. Ben and Jerry said, “We must dismantle white supremacy.” In the meantime, the duo has been impressed with Colin Kaepernick’s boldness and strength to fight on for social justice, and they decided to partner with him for the vegan frozen dessert. Ben & Jerry’s hopes the world can taste “Change the Whirled” and plans on also making the frozen treat available to fans in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands.