Who Is Colin Kaepernick?

Colin Kaepernick is a former NFL quarterback who played for the San Francisco 49ers from 2011 to 2016. During his time in the league, he led the 49ers to Super Bowl XLVII following the 2012 season, where they lost to the Baltimore Ravens 34-31. Kaepernick was a dual-threat quarterback known for a powerful arm and elite athleticism as a runner, and he helped popularize a more mobile style of quarterback play in the NFL during the early 2010s.

In 2016, Kaepernick became one of the most visible figures in American social activism when he began protesting racial injustice during the NFL season. His actions sparked a national conversation that extended far beyond sports, fundamentally reshaping how professional athletes engage with political and social causes. Today, his name is associated as much with activism as with football.

The Kneeling Protest: What Happened and Why

During the 2016 NFL preseason, Kaepernick began sitting during the pregame national anthem to protest police brutality against Black Americans. After a conversation with Nate Boyer, a former Green Beret and NFL player, Kaepernick switched to kneeling as a gesture Boyer suggested would be more respectful while still making a clear statement.

Kaepernick explained his decision directly: “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses Black people and people of color. To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way.”

The protest spread quickly. Teammates joined him, as did players across the league. Athletes in basketball, soccer, and other sports also participated. The movement generated fierce criticism from those who viewed kneeling as disrespectful to the military, and strong support from those who recognized it as a legitimate response to documented police violence. The debate reached the highest levels of government and remained a flashpoint in American culture for years.

What Happened to His NFL Career

After opting out of his contract with the 49ers following the 2016 season, Kaepernick became a free agent. Despite his clear ability as a starter-level quarterback, no NFL team signed him. Analysts and former team executives widely noted that his activism made owners reluctant to take him on, regardless of his on-field value.

In October 2017, Kaepernick and fellow protester Eric Reid filed grievances against the NFL, alleging that team owners colluded to keep them out of the league in violation of the collective bargaining agreement. In February 2019, the NFL reached a confidential settlement with both players. The financial terms were never publicly disclosed.

In November 2020, the NFL organized a private workout for Kaepernick at a facility in Atlanta. The session was relocated after a dispute over whether Kaepernick's representatives could have their own cameras present to document the workout. No team offered a contract following the session, and Kaepernick has not played in an NFL game since the 2016 season.

Know Your Rights Camp: What It Does

In 2016, Kaepernick founded the Know Your Rights Camp (KYRC), a nonprofit organization focused on advancing the liberation and well-being of Black and Brown communities. The camp delivers free programming to youth on topics including:

• Legal rights when interacting with law enforcement officers
• Self-empowerment, self-defense, and leadership development
• Financial literacy and building generational wealth
• Higher education preparation and access resources
• Health, wellness, and nutrition

KYRC has held camps in cities across the United States and in countries internationally, serving tens of thousands of young people since its founding. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the organization shifted to community relief work, distributing food, water, and essential supplies in communities hit hardest by the crisis. KYRC also provided legal support and resources to individuals affected by mass incarceration during that period.

The camp regularly partners with community organizations, legal advocates, and local schools to bring programming to new cities and expand its reach.

How to Support Kaepernick's Activism

There are several concrete ways to engage with and support Kaepernick's ongoing work:

1. Donate to Know Your Rights Camp. Visit knowyourrightscamp.com to make a one-time or recurring donation. Funds go directly to youth programming, legal education, and community relief efforts. Even small recurring donations help sustain ongoing operations.
2. Follow KYRC on social media. The organization posts updates on camp dates, volunteer opportunities, and community initiatives on Instagram and X. Following and sharing these posts extends the reach of their announcements.
3. Host or sponsor a camp event. Schools, community centers, and nonprofit organizations can inquire through the KYRC website about hosting a camp in their city. Kaepernick's team works with community partners to bring programming to new locations across the country.
4. Buy from Kaepernick Publishing. Purchasing books released by the imprint directly supports the publishing mission. Titles are available through major online retailers and independent bookstores. Requesting them from your local library also helps surface the work to new readers.
5. Watch and share media projects. The 2021 Netflix limited series Colin in Black and White, co-created by Kaepernick and Ava DuVernay, dramatizes his high school years and the experiences that shaped his values. Sharing it introduces his story to new audiences who may not be familiar with the full context.
6. Connect with local racial justice organizations. Kaepernick's work is part of a broader movement. Engaging with bail funds, police accountability groups, or community legal aid organizations in your own city extends the impact at a local level where it can be most direct.

Media Projects and Ongoing Advocacy

Since leaving the NFL, Kaepernick has remained active across publishing, media, and direct advocacy. In addition to the Netflix series, he authored I Color Myself Different, an illustrated memoir aimed at younger readers that explores themes of identity, belonging, and self-acceptance based on his own experiences growing up as a Black child raised by a white family.

Kaepernick Publishing has released multiple titles examining race in America, the criminal justice system, and the history of protest movements. The imprint works with scholars, community organizers, and frontline voices to bring perspectives that are underrepresented in mainstream publishing. The goal is to build a body of work that supports education on systemic racism and justice reform.

Kaepernick has been a vocal supporter of prison abolition and has used his platform to draw attention to individuals he believes were unjustly convicted. He has contributed directly to bail fund efforts and spoken publicly about the need to fundamentally rethink systems of policing and incarceration.

His 2018 partnership with Nike, which featured the tagline “Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything,” became one of the most discussed advertising campaigns of that decade. It generated organized boycotts on one side and record Nike sales figures on the other, demonstrating that his activism had reached a scale where major corporations were willing to align their brand with his message.