At this point, Colin Kaepernick has become somewhat of a household name. When he sat during the US national anthem in a 2016 pre-season game, he was doing so to call attention to the way BIPOC continue to experience police brutality and systemic racism in America. His protest morphed into a kneel and from there became a powerful and unavoidable symbol of resistance. One that has been adopted by athletes all over and most recently at Tokyo 2020. This is all despite Kaepernick not having played a single game since the 2016 NFL season. We cannot get him off our minds, or our hearts, and it seems that neither too can Netflix.
At the end of the year, October 29 to be precise, Netflix is bringing us Colin in Black & White, a six-episode limited series looking at the quarterbacks life as a black child adopted into a white family. The series will be a coming-of-age story of a younger Kaepernick as he confronts race, class and his relationship to it all. Behind the lens will be filmmaker Ava DuVernay who directed When They See Us and Selma. While Jaden Michael who we saw in Paterson with Adam Driver is playing a younger Kaepernick.
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“I’m excited to share this first peek into a project I co-created with the incomparable Ava DuVernay over the past couple of years. I look forward to the world meeting the incredible Jaden Michael, a young actor who plays me during my high school years, just a kid growing up in Turlock, California, who wanted to play ball," said Kaepernick.
Kaepernick leaves a legacy on the NFL and sporting world mirroring those of Dr. Harry Edwards and Tommie Smith. “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,” said DuVernay.
Colin in Black & White will be available for streaming on Netflix October 29. Watch the official trailer and teaser trailer, below. In the meantime, if you're looking to continue the conversation about racism and power, why not dive into these anti-racism TV series's and films.
