COLIN IN BLACK AND WHITE IS A PAINFUL AND JOYOUS CALL FOR AUTHENTICITY
OVER THE LAST decade, Ava Duvernay has established herself as a vital voice in Hollywood. With Selma, she brought out the human side of civil-rights icon Martin Luther King Jr, scoring a Best Picture nomination in the process. With powerful drama When They See Us, she did the same for the Central Park Five, a group of Black and Hispanic teens who were wrongfully convicted of assault and rape, and sent to prison. And now with Colin In Black And White, she turns her gaze to Colin Kaepernick. The story of the former NFL athlete who made headlines by refusing to stand for the national anthem in protest at oppression of Black people and people of colour in the United States, the Netflix series makes for valuable edutainment.
Duvernay’s approach to her subject is intriguing. Part drama, part history lesson, and part documentary that’s narrated by Kaepernick himself, it takes the viewer on a journey through the trials and tribulations of Colin in his younger years (brilliantly portrayed by Jaden Michael) as he tries to navigate a racist world while chasing his dreams of sports stardom. In doing so, it gets into heavy topics such as implicit bias, microaggressions, different branches of racism, and white privilege.
From the first episode onwards, no punches are pulled. And at a time when more people than ever are seeking to learn about racism and all the forms it takes, that gives the series a special value as a good primer for people to seek out.
The docudrama also made me think about my own career journey. Like Kaepernick, my industry is dominated by white men. And like that younger Colin, I used to spend my time conforming to those around me when I interacted with people in those spaces, but it only brought me limited success. It was when I decided to be more of my authentic self that I unlocked new levels of success for myself. On that level, the ‘love your Blackness’ message of this series cannot be overstated, and Colin In Black And White has a nice balance between the pain of the barriers placed in our path, and the joy when we smash through them and come into our own.