10/06/2026
colin kaepernick took the CultureCon main stage for a conversation that reached well beyond football.
Joined by bomani jones , Kaepernick reflected on leadership, identity, conviction, and the complicated process of reclaiming your own story. The discussion also explored themes connected to his memoir, The Perilous Fight, revisiting a journey that has placed him at the intersection of sports, activism, race, politics, and American culture.
Nearly a decade after his protest during the national anthem became one of the defining cultural moments of his generation, Kaepernick remains a figure whose impact cannot be separated from the larger conversations his actions helped bring into public view.
For years, his story was interpreted through headlines, television debates, political commentary, and competing narratives about what his protest represented. On the CultureCon stage, the focus shifted back toward authorship.
Who gets to define someone once that person becomes a symbol? And what happens when the person behind that symbol takes control of the narrative?
That question felt particularly at home at CultureCon ® , a space built around the creators, thinkers, entrepreneurs, and cultural figures actively shaping what comes next.
Kaepernick’s appearance served as a reminder that cultural impact is rarely confined to the moment in which it begins. The uniform may be gone. The stadium may be gone. But the conversation, and the questions surrounding courage, sacrifice, identity, and conviction, remain.
Colin Kaepernick at CultureCon 2026 in Brooklyn.
