Kaep is back, to speaking that is.
In an exclusive interview with USA Today’s Jarrett Bell, Colin Kaepernick revealed that his memoir will hit stores later this year through his new company, Kaepernick Publishing.
“Recognizing the importance of our community being able to control our own narratives and tell our own stories, this is something I thought had to be the next stepping-stone for us to properly address and identify not only how we view ourselves, view our communities and how we tell our stories, but also giving the world to view us in the way that we want them to as well,” said Kaepernick.
According to Kaepernick, the book still doesn’t have a name, but it will focus on everything that’s happened since he started his peaceful protest back in 2016. The former San Francisco 49ers quarterback was inspired by Malcolm X’s classic autobiography and said that he gives a copy of the book to every member of the youth that attends his Know Your Rights Camp.
“Black literature was something that was key to developing my own thoughts and ideas of how to navigate the spaces that I enter,” he explained. “So, I not only wanted to give insight into what led me to protest through my memoir, I wanted to make sure I was able to retain the ownership over my story in the process.”
And if you’re still wondering, he definitely wants to be back in the NFL.
“My desire to play football is still there,” he said. “I still train five days a week. I’m ready to go, I’m ready for a phone call, tryout, workout at any point in time. I’m still waiting on the owners and their partners to stop running from this situation. So, I hope I get a call this offseason. I’ll be looking forward to it.”
From Steve Wyche being the first one to notice that Kaepernick wasn’t standing during the anthem back in 2016 and asking him about it, to Bell being the one that Kaepernick decided to confide in, to The Shadow League’s unflinching pro-Kaepernick stance — it should not go unnoticed that black journalists have been the ones right there throughout this entire situation.
