October 28th 2023.
Colin Kaepernick and Nike are excited to announce their collaboration with British mixed media artist Joy Yamusangie. The two apparel companies are creating a collection with designs that tell the story of the NFL quarterback turned activist and author. On Kaepernick’s website, a video featuring the artist’s description of the project is prominently displayed, just above a promotional video for Kaepernick’s latest venture, an arcade-style football game called Wild Card Football.
In the video, Joy Yamusangie explains that “It was easy to draw inspiration for the designs for the collection, we blended our different approaches and our visions. Through each of the illustrations, I look to capture the core themes of Colin’s work and life. Each drawing represents hope, ambition, and aspiration.”
Kaepernick has been busy since his post-NFL life, and is still very much interested in attempting to return to the league. Following an Achilles injury to the New York Jets future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers, Kaepernick penned a letter to the Jets GM Joe Douglass asking for a chance on the team’s practice squad. The letter spells out Kaepernick’s belief that he can still help a team, even as an older quarterback.
Kaepernick has also created a publishing house, called Kaepernick Publishing in 2019, which he uses to publish books related to the struggle for Civil Rights in America led by Black and other people of color. His most recent project, titled Our History Has Always Been Contraband: In Defense of Black Studies, was co-published by Haymarket Books and is a response to the current movement to delegitimize the field of African-American or Black Studies, led by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
This is an exciting partnership between Kaepernick, Nike, and Joy Yamusangie, and represents the hope, ambition, and aspiration of the Black community. As co-editor Robin D.G. Kelley states, “Black studies was born of resistance and grew up in a state of fugitivity as a critique of a world that built counterfeit democracies on slavery, dispossession, colonialism, racism, and violence…And we remain, seeking hard truths, refusing indoctrination, and creating knowledge intended to free us all.”
The collection will be released tomorrow on Nike, and promises to be an amazing representation of the power of hope and change.
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