October on Netflix sees a fascinating coming-of-age chronicle of sports icon Colin Kaepernick, titled Colin in Black & White told in a limited series format.
Wisconsin native Colin Kaepernick is an activist and American quarterback, who graduated from the University of Nevada, Reno, where he set several athletic records.
His life story is an unusual journey of standing up for what is right and it is told in six 30 minute episodes on Netflix.
About Colin Kaepernick
Kaepernick is the all-time NFL record holder for most rushing yards in a game by a quarterback,
Back in 2011, the San Francisco 49ers drafted Kaepernick who led the club to Super Bowl XLVII less than two years later. He was on the team until 2016. That year Kaepernick began sending a message about police brutality and social injustice by refusing to stand for the national anthem before NFL games.
When he took a knee during the playing of the National Anthem in 2016 to bring attention to systemic racism and abuse, specifically the police actions that were making headlines, he became the news. As a result, Kaepernick was barred from employment by the league. No other NFL team owners wanted to hire him because of the political fallout and fears his hiring would be bad for their business.
Since 2016, he has founded and helped fund three organizations—Know Your Rights Camp, Ra Vision Media, and Kaepernick Publishing—that together advance Black and Brown people through storytelling, systemic change, and education.
According to his bio, Kaepernick sits on Medium’s Board and is the winner of numerous prestigious honors including Amnesty International’s Ambassador of Conscience Award, and being honored as a Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Ripple of Hope award laureate.
He is also the recipient of GQ magazine’s Citizen of the Year, the NFL’s Len Eshmont Award, the Sports Illustrated Muhammad Ali Legacy Award, the ACLU’s Eason Monroe Courageous Advocate Award, and the Puffin/Nation Institute’s Prize for Creative Citizenship.
About Netflix limited series Colin in Black & White
Colin in Black & White is from co-creators Ava DuVernay and Colin Kaepernick. This new limited series tells the story of Kaepernick’s coming of age where factors of race, class, and culture collide as he moves through academic life and beyond.
Told in six 30 minute episodes, we learn that Colin is the Black adopted child of a white family. The series stars Jaden Michael as Young Colin before reaching the pinnacle of American football as an NFL quarterback.
It tracks his life as he becomes a cultural icon and social activist.
Actors Nick Offerman and Mary-Louise Parker are cast as his parents, Rick and Teresa, and Colin Kaepernick appears as the present-day narrator of his own story, acting as the spirited voiceover who shares his historical and contemporary contextual moments.
The series brings facets of Kaepernick to light that few outside his inner circle know about.
The directors are Ava DuVernay (Episode 101 and all of the present-day Colin Kaepernick scenes), Sheldon Candis (Episode 102), Robert Townsend (Episodes 103 and 104), Angel Kristi Williams (Episode 105), Kenny Leon (Episode 106).
Colin in Black & White Limited Series begins streaming on October 29, 2021, on Netflix.