Colin Kaepernick’s activist teenage years will be the subject of a new Netflix series, “Colin in Black & White,” the streaming giant announced on Monday.
The drama by Academy Award-nominated and Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Ava DuVernay will lend “meaningful insight into the acts and experiences that led him to become the activist he is today,” Netflix said.
“Too often we see race and Black stories portrayed through a white lens,” Kaepernick said in a statement. “We seek to give new perspective to the differing realities that Black people face. We explore the racial conflicts I faced as an adopted Black man in a white community, during my high school years. It’s an honor to bring these stories to life in collaboration with Ava for the world to see.”
The six-episode project will include a look at Kaepernick as a Black child growing up with a white adopted family. Kaepernick will serve as an executive producer and narrator for the series.
“With his act of protest, Colin Kaepernick ignited a national conversation about race and justice with far-reaching consequences for football, culture and for him, personally,” DuVernay, who won a Golden Globe for best director for 2015’s “Selma,” said in a statement. “Colin’s story has much to say about identity, sports and the enduring spirit of protest and resilience. I couldn’t be happier than to tell this story with the team at Netflix.”
Kaepernick, 32, who guided the San Francisco 49ers to the Super Bowl in 2013, began kneeling during the national anthem during the 2016 NFL season to protest racial injustice in the United States. Other players quickly followed, eventually igniting a feud with President Trump, who called on NFL owners to fire any player “when somebody disrespects our flag.” Trump recently said Kaepernick, who has not played in the NFL since the 2016 season, “deserves another shot” if he can still play at a high level.
The Seattle Seahawks and Baltimore Ravens are among the NFL teams reportedly interested in signing Kaepernick as a potential backup to Russell Wilson or Lamar Jackson, respectively.