Colin Kaepernick, the QB Who Became a Civil Rights Trailblazer

(Bloomberg Businessweek) -- The decision in 2016 to kneel during the national anthem at the start of NFL games—a protest against police brutality and racial inequality—cost Kaepernick his job as a quarterback. In the years since, he’s become a civil rights icon, advocating for causes that came to the forefront in 2020 after the police killing of George Floyd and the disproportionate death rate from Covid-19 among Black people. A campaign Kaepernick started in 2016 to raise awareness in Black and Latino communities about higher education, self-empowerment, and interacting with law enforcement pledged more than $1.75 million to fight the virus and provide legal support to Black Lives Matter protesters.

The Netflix series, Colin in Black & White, a collaboration with Emmy award-winning director Ava DuVernay, will focus on how Kaepernick’s adolescence shaped his activism. (A release date hasn’t been announced.) The partnership with Disney will feature stories that explore race and showcase the work of minority directors and producers.

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