Colin Kaepernick teams with Ava DuVernay for a Netflix drama on his high school years

The Hollywood Reporter

Netflix has given the six-episode limited series Colin in Black & White a straight-to-series order. It will examine the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback and activist's adolescence as a mixed-race Black teenager growing up with a white adopted family in the California Central Valley of Turlock. Kaepernick will appear as himself as the narrator of the series, while an actor will be cast as a younger version of himself. DuVernay will serve as executive producer, reteaming with her When They See Us co-Emmy writing nominee Michael Starrbury, who will pen the scripts. Kaepernick led the 49ers to Super Bowl XLVII in 2013. In the summer of 2016, at the urging of his girlfriend, former MTV host Nessa, Kaepernick audited a UC Berkeley class on black representation in popular culture. The class helped lead to an "awakening" that inspired him to protest police brutality during the National Anthem starting in August 2016. Because of the controversy over his protests, Kaepernick hasn't played in the NFL since the 2016 season, prompting a collusion lawsuit against the NFL that was settled last year. "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,” said DuVernay. “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.” Kaepernick adds: "Too often we see race and Black stories portrayed through a white lens. 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.” Cindy Holland, Netflix's vice president of originals, said of the project: “It is an unparalleled union of two strong and defining voices coming together to tell the story about what it’s like to be Black in America.”