Athlete and activist Colin Kaepernick is joining Medium's board of directors and will write stories about racism for the site

The former NFL quarterback and civil rights activist will also be writing stories about racism for the site, interviewing "high-profile leaders, activists and athletes" and publishing on Medium.
Medium founder Ev Williams said Kaepernick is "an incisive, independent thinker" in his post about Kaepernick's new role.
Kaepernick has been a vocal activist since 2016, when he began kneeling during the national anthem at San Francisco 49ers games. He has since launched his own publishing house and a nonprofit called Know Your Rights Camp, which created a legal defense fund for protesters arrested in the wake of George Floyd's death.
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Athlete and activist Colin Kaepernick is joining Medium's board of directors, the company announced Thursday .

In addition to serving on the company's board, Kaepernick will be writing stories focused on racism and other civil rights issues, interviewing "high-profile leaders, activists and athletes" and publishing on Medium, particularly on its men's site, Level , and anti-racism site, Momentum .

In the post about Kaepernick's new role, Medium founder Ev Williams described him as "an incisive, independent thinker."

"I know he will bring valuable insights and leadership to Medium, especially in this moment when the world is finally catching up to his vision on racial justice," Williams said.

Kaepernick is an NFL quarterback who played with the San Francisco 49ers for six seasons. Beginning in 2016, he began kneeling during the national anthem to protest racism and oppression in the US. His protest sparked support from other athletes, but widespread backlash from fans and from President Donald Trump, who said players who kneel should be fired from the NFL .

Kaepernick became a free agent after the 2016 season and has never been signed by another team, prompting him to file a grievance with the NFL alleging collusion to keep him out of the league. (He eventually settled with the NFL for an undisclosed amount.)

Kaepernick has since founded Kaepernick Publishing , a publishing company that plans to publish work of all genres from people of color. He has said he plans to release a memoir through the publishing house, but no release date has been announced.

He also launched Know Your Rights Camp , a nonprofit that aims to empower Black youth. In the wake of the nationwide protests following George Floyd's death, Kaepernick launched a legal defense fund for people who were arrested in Minneapolis during the protests.

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