Until National Football League (NFL) San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick popularized it, and until Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi swiped it as part of her props arsenal, “taking the knee” was the universal genuflexion as a sign of respect to the Almighty in churches.
“The act itself has become widely referred to as taking a knee or taking the knee. The protests began in the National Football League (NFL) after San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick sat and later knelt during the anthem, before his team's preseason games of 2016.” (Wikipedia)