(Reuters) – Netflix is 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.”
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Gareth Jones)
