Colin Kaepernick fans will soon learn much more about the activist and the soccer player, thanks to a new six-episode series focused on his teenage life. Netflix announced Monday that renowned filmmaker Ava DuVernay and Kaepernick have created a limited series, titled “Colin in Black & White.”
“The series will focus on Kaepernick’s formative high school years, providing meaningful insight into the acts and experiences that led him to become the activist he is today,” the company said in a press release. The program aims to provide an “introspective look” at Kaepernick’s early life as a black child growing up in his white foster family and his path to becoming a talented NFL quarterback while “defining his identity.” .
Kaepernick will appear as himself in the series as its narrator.
“Too often we see race and black stories portrayed through a white lens,” Kaepernick said in a statement. “We seek to give a new perspective to the different realities that blacks face. We explored the racial conflicts that I faced as an adopted black man in a white community during my high school years. It is an honor to bring these stories to life in collaboration with Ava for the world to see. “
Netflix has yet to release a release date for the series, which was created in 2019, according to the statement. Writing for the show recently completed in May.
Emmy-nominated writer Michael Starrbury served as executive producer and wrote for the series alongside DuVernay and Kaepernick. Starrbury and DuVernay worked together on the critically acclaimed Netflix series “When they see us“, which told the story of men once known as the Central Park Five, and now called the Exonerated Five.
“With his act of protest, Colin Kaepernick initiated a national conversation on race and justice with far-reaching consequences for football, culture and for him personally,” DuVernay said in the press release. “Colin’s story has a lot to say about identity, sports and the enduring spirit of protest and resistance.”
Famous kaepernick led kneeling protests during national anthem performances in 2016 to draw attention to police violence and racial injustice. The former San Francisco 49ers quarterback has not played for a soccer team since 2016 after it was not signed by a team. He filed a complaint against the NFL in 2017, alleging that it was not signed due to their protests. He later settled on an undisclosed amount.
Chris Brito contributed to this report.
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