"As sad as it is, something is better than nothing."
That sentence perhaps best sums up many people's thoughts on what the symbol of taking the knee has become.
At its height, it was a powerful message that racism and all forms of discrimination will be challenged and fought against. But more than 15 months on, that power appears to have faded in some quarters.
There are still those who believe that it is still as strong a gesture as ever.
But there are also many who are conflicted over the issue and whether it is still making a difference amid all the noise.
The aforementioned quote comes from Jobi McAnuff, a prominent black figure in English football first as a player and coach for two decades, now as a pundit for both Sky Sports and EFL on Quest.
He won plenty of plaudits for his honest and heartfelt reaction to a flashpoint incident earlier this season. Sky Sports had just televised Millwall's Championship home game with Fulham.
It was a match that saw the visiting players booed by home fans for taking the knee - something Millwall players had stopped doing at the end of the previous season.
Lions' boss Gary Rowett refused to criticise his club's supporters and instead suggested the gesture was causing a "rift and divide".
McAnuff took umbrage with that and proceeded to make an impassioned defence of the knee that won him plenty of respect and admirers.
Two months have passed since that incident and whilst McAnuff's stance has not changed, he admits it feels as though the taking of the knee is trying to be gradually phased out.
He said: "My belief is still that the knee is something - and as sad as it is, something is better than nothing.
"The other part of me is almost like we're being told that we should stop (the knee) now. When you look back over history, there's been uprising, rebellions and protests. And it's almost like we're allowed to do that for a limited bit of time and that certain powers-that-be feel is okay.
"But then once they feel you've had your five minutes or five months or whatever it is, now you should stop it.
"That doesn't sit well with me. It's something that players have decided that they want to continue to do.
"What is the next thing? Do we all stand together rather than taking the knee? Then how long does that last before we go and do something else?
"The intent needs to be behind it. It's a frustrating cycle."
Speaking to Mirror Football in-depth about a range of issues to mark Black History Month, McAnuff has a strong, well-balanced and personal take on a range of topics - even the subject of Black History Month itself.
"We're living in a time now when it's about more than just one month to celebrate black history and it almost puts black history in a box, saying, 'We'll have a month set aside for it,'" he said.
"For me, it's history - full-stop."
McAnuff's personal experience of racism come not only from a long playing career, where he represented the likes of Wimbledon, Crystal Palace and Reading, but also from the stories his dad would tell him about his integration into Britain after travelling over from Jamaica.
It was a brutal introduction to life on these shores and McAnuff, a father himself to two young boys, believes it is stories like this that are important to tell - all year round, not just in October.
Whilst he is not subjected to the kind of physical intimidation that his father once was, there is another landscape where racism remains rife and to a large extent un-policed - social media.
"I definitely feel there's a lawlessness to it," McAnuff says when quizzed on his thoughts on the cyber landscape.
"Unfortunately, I'm very careful about how I tread particularly on Twitter because it can be a toxic place at times.
"It's just the ease at which people can vent on there. It's not just racism, it's just all kinds of negativity that seems to come with such ease.
"As sad as it is, in my lifetime we're not going to eradicate racism. But it's about what we can do to lessen it, limit the impact it has on people and I think that's where social media companies need to be a lot stronger and put better protocols in place to try and stop that."
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