A decade after his NFL kneeling controversy, Colin Kaepernick has a message for Gen Z: Don’t let the fear of backlash silence you

Colin Kaepernick is known for his athleticism and activism. The former San Francisco quarterback raised his voice against racial injustice and police brutality by kneeling during the national anthem in 2016. At the time, it sparked both significant praise and backlash.

Kaepernick was called anti-police, labeled a “traitor” by a league executive, and received countless death threats. He became the face of Nike, which drove some consumers to #JustBurnIt and set their products on fire.

A decade on, and Kaepernick hasn’t been signed by an NFL team since. But he’s back in business. This time, as CEO of his own new venture, Lumi—an AI literacy startup aimed to help Gen Alpha and Gen Z find their voices and write their stories. And he’s unapologetic about the power of speaking your truth.

If he could go back in time, the one piece of advice Kaepernick would give his younger self is this: Don’t let fear of backlash silence you.

In an on-stage interview with Fortune’s Orianna Rosa Royle at Web Summit Qatar, Kaepernick spoke about how, early on, it’s easy to overedit what you want to say because you’re trying to “not hurt people’s feelings…But it’s not actually what you want to say.”

He cautioned that playing it safe rarely leaves a mark.

“When you are true to yourself, people relate to you much better. They feel the authenticity,” Kaepernick added. “You also have to be vulnerable in that process.” 

He continued: “It’s not necessarily going to be always the perfect picture, but what comes out of that is much stronger relationships, much better relatability, and people often start opening up on their end as well.”

In the end, saying what’s true matters more than saying what feels safe. And Kaepernick said that choice to be true to himself only deepened trust, connection, and impact.

Colin Kaepernick’s top tip for finding your voice? Be true to you

Lumi is a natural follow-up to Kaepernick’s previous social justice work. The athlete turned activist has already authored several books and founded Kaepernick Publishing, all with the focus on amplifying stories from marginalized voices. 

His new venture takes that mission digital and directly into classrooms. Founded in 2024 with $4 million in seed funding led by Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian’s venture capital firm Seven Seven Six, Lumi helps young people produce their own comics or graphic novels. As of early 2026, the program is being piloted in schools, including Metro Nashville Public Schools and Prince George’s County Public Schools in Maryland.

Already, the impact is visible. “We’re seeing this time and time again that students are opening up, and they’re opening up in ways that their classmates didn’t know, their teachers didn’t know, and it’s building stronger connections within their close-knit community.

“We have had students telling stories around bullying and navigating that. We actually had one student who told a story about the suicide of his brother, and these are all stories that they had not previously shared or opened up about, and they were just internalizing all of this.”

His advice to students on finding their own voice? “Be true to it,” Kaepernick said.

“The thing that I think about, in relation to my own story and the stories that we’re seeing from students, is being true and authentic to themselves.” 

The lesson Colin Kaepernick is taking from the NFL field into his latest venture, Lumi

It’s not just his experience with speaking out that Kaepernick’s leaning on in this new chapter in his career. From a leadership perspective, he said there’s “a lot of crossover” between being a CEO and a founder, and that his previous experience on the field is relevant.

“I would say the biggest thing is, when you think about leading a team or leading the organization, is making sure that you have the right people on that journey with you,” he told Fortune on stage.

“We see this very clearly in the NFL, that you can have a great game plan, but if you don’t have the right players on the field in the right position, that game plan doesn’t work,” he continued. “And we see that holds true with companies as well.”

Like a coach, Kaepernick insisted he spends “a lot” of his time making sure Lumi has the “right people” in the “right positions.” 

“It takes more time. It takes more work,” Kaepernick said. “But when you have the right people, they also help you solve the right problems at the right times that ultimately lead to the success of the company.”

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com