#Colin Kaepernick’s high school years to be subject of Ava DuVernay series on Neflix

By Rebecca Iannucci, TV Line

Netflix will tackle the early life of Colin Kaepernick for its next project: The streamer has ordered “Colin in Black & White,” a limited series based on the athlete and activist’s teenage years, TVLine has learned.

Spanning six episodes, the drama will focus on Kaepernick’s formative high school experience, “lending meaningful insight into the acts and experiences that led him to become the activist he is today,” per the official description. The project will follow Kaepernick’s upbringing as a Black child growing up with a white adopted family, chronicling his journey to becoming a great quarterback while defining his identity.

Kaepernick will executive-produce and narrate the series, while Ava DuVernay and Michael Starrbury — who previously collaborated on Netflix’s “When They See Us” — are also on board as EPs.

“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.”

Added DuVernay, “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. 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.”

A former quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, Kaepernick made headlines in 2016 when he chose to kneel during the national anthem at NFL games, as a form of protest against systemic racism and police brutality. He left the 49ers after that football season concluded and remains a free agent.