Source: Jeff Grossman – WENN / WENN
Colin Kaepernick has begun production on his highly anticipated mini-series, Colin in Black and White, but not without a few hiccups.
According to published reports, the production team of the Colin Kaepernick production has had to increase security after threats of protests on site from the domestic terrorist group, Proud Boys. Executives on the project reportedly sent an email to the staff with measures to protect the cast and crew.
Producers were told in a memo last week that, “anti-BLM sentiments may protest against the production.” Additionally, two anonymous production members told TMZ that the office received an ominous phone call last week, believed to be from the militant far-right group.
While the threat never materialized physically on-site, there were internal emails between executives and staff that added additional security measures in order to protect cast and crew members. The white nationalist, male-chauvinist organization, whose members were involved in last month’s Capitol insurrection, is notorious for instigating violent confrontations with Black Lives Matter demonstrators, so it’s unsurprising that the miniseries would take this threat seriously.
As previously reported, The show, which stars Jaden Michael as Kaepernick, is called Colin in Black and White. It examines the athlete’s experiences with racism during high-school which ended up inspiring his historic social activism as an adult.
The football quarterback made headlines in 2016 when he refused to stand during a playing of “The Star-Spangled Banner” in an effort to raise awareness of the systematic oppression and murder of innocent Black men and women at the hands of police.
In an interview after the game, Kaepernick explained his decision not to stand, which is traditionally done in US sports, saying, “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. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.”
The silent protest continued for more than two seasons before Kaepernick opted out of his contract with the San Francisco 49ers in 2017, making him a free agent and leading to his subsequent blackball from the league.
Colin in Black and White is directed by Ava DuVernay and features Kaepernick narrating the six-part series.
HipHopWired Radio
Our staff has picked their favorite stations, take a listen…
