Netflix shared a fresh look at Colin in Black & White, the new series drama series about former NFL player and activist Colin Kaepernick’s experiences as a teenager, during its TUDUM live stream event on Saturday. The series runs six episodes and was directed by Ava DuVernay, the filmmaker behind Selma and Netflix’s award-winning limited series When They See Us. The TUDUM clip promoting Colin in Black & White expands on the trailer Netflix released on Sept. 13.
The three-minute first look begins with Kaepernick sharing the story of Romare Bearden (1911-1988), an African-American artist and author. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Bearden was a semi-professional baseball player in Boston. Philadelphia Athletics owner Connie Mack was impressed by Bearden’s play and offered him a contract, 15 years before Jackie Robinson played for the Brooklyn Dodgers. It’s not clear if Mack knew Bearden was Black, but Bearden refused to sign a contract knowing he would have to hide his true identity. This story then segues into Kaepernick’s own experiences playing baseball growing up.
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Colin in Black & White stars Jaden Michael as a young Kaepernick, and Nick Offerman and Mary-Louise Parker as his adoptive parents Rick and Teresa. Kaepernick provides the narration for each episode. The series premieres on Netflix on Oct. 29, following the pilot’s premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival earlier this month.
Kaepernick, 33, was born in Milwaukee and was adopted by Rick and Teresa Kaepernick at 5 weeks old. They moved to California when he was 4 years old, and he excelled at baseball, football, and basketball in high school. He began his college football career at the University of Nevada, Reno, the only college to offer him a college football scholarship. Kaepernick was still drafted by the Chicago Cubs in 2009, but he didn’t sign and focused on football instead.
In 2011, Kaepernick was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers and took the team to Super Bowl XLVII at the end of the 2012 season. Kaepernick became a lightning rod for controversy during the 2016 season when he chose to kneel during the National Anthem to protest police brutality and racial inequality. When Kaepernick opted out of his contract, he became a free agent in 2017 and never played for another NFL team. Since then, Kaepernick has focused on activism. He also plans to release a memoir through his own Kaepernick Publishing company. He co-created Colin in Black & White with DuVernay.
