Netflix, DuVernay to make series on Kaepernick's high school years

FILE PHOTO: Colin Kaepernick is seen at a special training event created by Kaepernick to provide greater access to scouts, the media, and the public, at Charles. R. Drew High School in Riverdale, Georgia, U.S., November 16, 2019. REUTERS/Elijah Nouvelage/File Photo

Netflix are teaming up with Emmy Award-winning director Ava DuVernay to bring former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s adolescent life to the television screen.

Entitled ‘Colin in Black & White’, Netflix said on Monday the six-episode series would focus on Kaepernick’s early years as a Black child growing up with a white adopted family and his formative high school years.

Kaepernick, who sparked a national debate in the United States when he protested against racial injustice by kneeling as the U.S. national anthem played during a game, has signed up as narrator of the series.

“We seek to give new perspective to the differing realities that Black people face,” he said. “We explore the racial conflicts I faced as an adopted Black man in a white community, during my high school years.”

Kaepernick said he was honored to work with DuVernay, the first black female director to be Oscar-nominated for a documentary, saying that too many stories about race and Black people were told through a “white lens”.

“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,” DuVernay, the filmmaker behind “Selma” and “13th,” said in a statement.

“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.”