Ava DuVernay to Executive Produce a Netflix Series About Colin Kaepernick's Formative Years

Colin Kaepernick's life is getting the Netflix treatment. The streaming service has announced that Ava DuVernay has signed on to executive produce Colin in Black & White, a limited drama about the Kaepernick's high school years. The show will let the audience in on his backstory, focusing on the formative events that helped him discover his passion for activism. Though a younger actor will portray the adolescent Kaepernick, he'll also appear as himself as the show's narrator.

The six-episode series will go deep into Kaepernick's childhood, where he grew up in an adopted white family and spent his teen years searching for his own identity. Created by Kaepernick and DuVernay, Colin in Black & White will be written and executive produced by Michael Starrbury, who won an Emmy for his writing on DuVernay's last Netflix limited series, When They See Us. 

"Too often we see race and Black stories portrayed through a white lens," Kaepernick said in a statement. "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."

In addition to When They See Us, DuVernay previously directed 13th for Netflix, an Emmy-winning documentary about mass incarceration in the United States. (If you're looking for more shows and docs to help educate you on racial justice and police brutality, TV Guide has a list of a few good places to start.) She's also set to direct an upcoming documentary about the late rapper Nipsey Hussle for the streaming platform.

Black lives matter. Text DEMANDS to 55156 to sign Color of Change's petition to reform policing, and visit blacklivesmatter.carrd.co for more ways to donate, sign petitions, and protest safely.