For Colin Kaepernick, sports once offered an escape. It was a place where the noise around identity seemed to fade away. As a Black child adopted into a white family, he grew up navigating constant resistance to his sense of self. But the gridiron gave him a safe space, a world where he could simply be an athlete. Unfortunately, that refuge eventually cracked in the NFL, where he came face-to-face with the politics of sports and saw how much influence could be wielded behind the scenes by those holding power.

Kaepernick knew kneeling in 2016 would come at a cost, but he did it anyway. It was the last time he played for the NFL. Regardless of getting shunned, he has continued his work as a civil rights activist and is now set to publish ‘The Perilous Fight’. But before the book hits shelves, Kaepernick is making another statement. He is boycotting a retail giant.

According to journalist Van Lathan Jr., Colin Kaepernick’s upcoming memoir will not be sold at Target (net worth of $74 billion as of September 2026) when it arrives on September 15. Plus, his previously released children’s books are also being removed from the retailer’s shelves.

“Not only is this book not going to be available in Target, but Colin Kaepernick’s older children’s books that he had written are also being pulled from Target shelves,” Lathan Jr. said on Higher Learning on YouTube. “This apparently was something that wasn’t that easy to do, and it certainly will hurt the book sales of said book, but it was important to the Kaepernicks, important to the Kaepernick camp, and everything that he was doing to not have the book be available in Target.”

The former QB is distancing his publishing work from Target as activists continue their pressure campaign against the giant. Here’s why.

In January, the retail giant announced it would scale back its diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. That also included a pledge to increase Black employee representation by 20%, and it goes without saying that the community felt betrayed. But the reason behind Kaepernick boycotting Target is not just the DEI. It’s deeper.

Lathan Jr. further added: “The Kaepernicks are standing solid with what they believe is a worthy and worthwhile effort by the black community to continue to hold Target accountable, but they’re not doing it because of the DEI stuff. They are doing it because of the costume.”

Not too long ago, Target found itself at the center of a customer backlash over a Halloween costume featuring a Black boy. The child appeared in a clown outfit that customers said resembled a minstrel caricature, complete with orange-and-black zigzag stripes and black gloves. The look was finished with a mask featuring an exaggerated grin and shockingly oversized teeth, sparking outrage among customers.

So, as Kaepernick prepares to release his 288-page memoir, published by Legacy Lit, an imprint of Hachette Book Group, this decision is important for his activism.

The book is scheduled for September 15 and revisits the experiences that shaped Kaepernick before and after his 2016 national anthem protest. The publisher described the work as a combination of memoir and manifesto.

In April, Kaepernick explained his decision to kneel was years in the making. He described growing up as “a Black kid navigating an identity the world didn’t always make space for.”

His growing awareness of injustice had shaped the path toward that moment.

And so, Kaepernick’s publishing platform has already positioned the memoir as a major personal statement. The book will be released in hardcover and ebook formats, while Kaepernick will narrate an audiobook scheduled to debut exclusively through Audible on the same date.

Colin Kaepernick’s latest stand puts Target under fresh pressure

In the controversy that involved children’s Halloween costumes, critics said that it evoked racist visuals, which triggered renewed backlash, with the company apologizing and pulling the product from stores.

The financial scale of Target also shows why a publishing decision involving one author can become part of a much larger corporate conversation. Target reported $104.78 billion in net sales for 2025, although that figure was down by 1.7% from the previous year.

Target was also among the retailers where Kaepernick’s book could be preordered, alongside Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Bookshop, and Walmart. Removing one major retailer can also affect a book’s reach, even though other distribution channels remain available.

Rachel Lindsay, Lathan’s co-host, appreciated Kaepernick’s camp standing with the boycott. For Kaepernick, whose career has been linked with personal decisions to questions of racial justice and corporate accountability, the choice puts those principles directly against Target.