Colin Kaepernick & Ava DuVernay Team Up For New Scripted Netflix Series

Back in 2016, many counted former 49ers’ quarterback, Colin Kaepernick, out after he began his peaceful protest by kneeling while the National Anthem played at games - a protest to draw notice to police brutality in this country. Kaepernick was blackballed from the NFL and took heavy criticism from those who considered themselves patriots. But since then he continued to make headlines and do the work that he has set out to do, helping to amplify Black voices. On the heels of his upcoming memoir, his publishing deal and his partnership with the online publishing platform Medium comes his latest project, a scripted series based on his High School experience.

Teaming up with iconic filmmaker Ava DuVernay and Netflix, Colin In Black & White, will focus on Kaepernick’s teenage years and early football, basketball and baseball successes in Turlock, California. Colin will serve as an executive producer and narrator, alongside DuVernay and Michael Starrbury.

“This project has been a joy to work on for the last year. I’ve long been fascinated by how folks become who they are. The steps we all take to get to ourselves. When it comes to [Colin Kaepernick] that story tracks the making of a singular American icon,” DuVernay says about working on the upcoming limited series.

Planning to start shooting this Fall, Colin In Black & White will center on the influences and circumstances that developed the social and cultural conscience of the young Black man who was adopted by a white family.

“Too often we see race and Black stories portrayed through a white lens,” Kaepernick said today on working with DuVernay on Colin in Black & White. “We seek to give new perspectives 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,” he explains. “It’s an honor to bring these stories to life in collaboration with Ava for the world to see.”

The marathon continues. Are you excited to see Colin In Black & White?