# Colin in Black and White (2021)

> A dramatized account of athlete Colin Kaepernick's youth as he and his adoptive parents navigate raising a Black son in a white family and community.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/98294

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 6
- Episode runtime: 35 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: drama
- Created by: Ava DuVernay, Michael Starrbury
- Network: Netflix
- Cast: Jaden Michael, Mary-Louise Parker, Nick Offerman, Colin Kaepernick, Christopher O'Neal, Amarr M. Wooten, Diamond Lyons, Xosha Roquemore
- TMDB rating: 6.3/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12624928/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: moderate
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: mild
- Tone: earnest, reflective, warm, sobering

## What critics say

Reviewers broadly see the limited series as a sincere, earnest docudrama on race, adoption and youth athletics, though its execution is uneven and its audience reach was modest.

## Synopsis

Colin in Black and White (2021) is an American docudrama limited series created by Ava DuVernay and Michael Starrbury for Netflix. Jaden Michael plays young Colin Kaepernick, an athlete growing up as a Black boy in a white adoptive household, while Mary-Louise Parker and Nick Offerman play his adoptive mother Teresa and father Rick. The engine of the story is a boy trying to find his place in a community that often misreads him, as he pursues football and baseball through high school training and academy-level competition while his parents work to protect and shape him. Each of the six episodes of roughly thirty-five minutes moves through a stage of his adolescence, with institutional discrimination, peer pressure, and the question of belonging pressing against his talent. The show is framed by narration from the real Kaepernick, which gives its recollections a reflective, personal distance. Its tone is earnest and thoughtful, measured rather than sensational, with warm family moments set against moments of quiet injustice. Set in suburban Northern California and the Midwest during the 1990s and 2000s, it has a grounded, intimate look at childhood. Fans of When They See Us, Race and Friday Night Lights will find resonance in its blend of social reckoning, athletic ambition and family drama.

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