Colin Kaepernick and Nessa Diab wrote ‘We Are Free, You and Me’ with daughter in mind

Former NFL quarterback, Colin Kaepernick continues to build on his civil rights work spurred by the decision to kneel during the National Anthem at the start of the 2016 season.

His protest against police violence set off months of intense national debate about activism and sports.

Kaepernick’s decision came at a price—he remained unsigned after that season —but it also brought him a new platform as an activist, author and more recently as a father.

Parenthood and activism alongside his wife and media personality, Nessa Diab, has inspired a new children’s book, We Are Free You and Me,
out this month.

The two spoke to NPR’s Michel Martin on Morning Edition about their new book, parenting and football.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Michel Martin: Colin, I'm going to start with you, because this is your third book written for kids or young adults. So I'm saying you had this focus before you became a parent, just wondering how that passion came to you and now that you are a dad, is this different?

Colin Kaepernick: A lot of the passion actually came from the work that we were doing with the Know Your Rights Camp. Now, being a father– this children's book, We Are Free You and Me, with my wife, Nessa– and all of that culmination has really led to a beautiful book that we hope young kids can take, internalize use it as a foundation as they move forward.

Martin: Nessa, how would you describe this book to other parents?

Nessa Diab:  You're going to get joy, you're going to get happiness, you're going to get strength, you're going to get, you know, feeling empowered and community. That is one of the many things that I'm proud of, because there is just nothing you can't accomplish with the right support system. And I feel that community is that for most people.

Martin : Well, as you pointed out, it's colorful, it's joyous. But I have to say, it does deal with some weighty concepts. One of the passages says:  

“Your truth is your strength, like the roots of a tree, trust in your power. 

You have the right to be free. The right to be free is something we share. 

But life can be tough and not always fair. Imagine a future one that is better. 

We can build a new world. We will do it together.”

These are not simple concepts. I mean, the idea of imagining a different world is something that a lot of adults struggle with. And I'm just wondering how you feel, especially the littlest people will take that in. I'd love to hear from both of you on this, especially now that you have your own focus group at home, right? 

Kaepernick: Exactly. How we approached it was, how do we take a lot of the principles of Know Your Rights that is focused on the older age group, the work that we've been doing in communities, and how do we put that in a position where our target audience of 3- to 8-year-olds can read this? Like, “Oh, I start, I'm starting to grasp these concepts of how I can operate in the world and what rights I have, what I can do, what I should be aspiring for.” And to your point, I think one of the reasons that it's hard for us as adults to even grasp some of these concepts is because they start to get stripped away from us at such a young age. But if we instill this idea of possibility and a better future in a very young generation, they don't have to go through rewiring their own mind and the rhyming and the lyrical nature of it, we want it to be fun, we want it to be joyful, but we also want to have that extremely powerful message that kids can carry with them.

Martin: Nessa, what do you think?

Diab: I agree with everything Colin said. And I think for me, when I was younger, I would have loved to have had this message. I mean, the messages came in different ways, but having empowering messages distilled in a very beautiful, simple way, I think is something that I hope our daughter keeps with her forever.

Martin: Colin, what about you? Is there one of these freedoms that you wish had been communicated to you when you were growing up?

Kaepernick: Yeah, I think the one that stands out to me is that first passage you read that opens the book. “Your truth is your strength. Like the roots of a tree. Trust your power. You have the right to be free.” To me, that's such a foundational message of one's own power to your own identity. And then how you actually express that and how that shows up in the world. That was my personal situation. But we also created this book that everybody is going to have their own instances where people apply different pressures or different perceptions or biases towards them and that likely is not a reflection of them or what they're doing, but how someone else perceives them. So having confidence in who they are, having confidence in their own power and their own truth and what they believe in and really carrying that forward. And if we're doing that towards a better future with the best of intentions, that will take us a very long way.

Martin: I'm hearing a little person in the background. Is that your…person, your little person? Your focus group? 

Kaepernick: That is our daughter running around.

Martin: Like you said, freedom to move, freedom to play.

Diab: That’s right.

Kaepernick: Exactly.

Martin: Actually, that's one of the pages that stood out to me, it’s “you have the freedom to move. You have the freedom to play.” There's research that shows that particularly kids of color– particularly Black kids– are adultified. A lot of observers see them as older than they are and then treat them accordingly so they're not really allowed to be kids. I wondered if that was part of your thinking in including that message there– that you're allowed to be a kid.

Kaepernick: Absolutely. Giving kids the space to just be kids like they are not going to be perfect. They're going to play, they're going to explore.

Martin: They’re going to bust into your interviews.

Kaepernick: She is having the time of her life.

Martin: Colin, before I let you go, I have to ask, It's football season. Do you miss it?

Kaepernick: Oh, I will forever miss it. And I continue to train for it. At the end of the day, I don't want to be in a position where I look back and have to question whether or not I gave it my all to try to pursue that. I will make sure that the reason I'm not playing is not because of my work ethic or commitment, but because I was held out of it.

This article was edited by Obed Manuel.