Say it ain’t so, Kaep.

Several prominent Black creatives have taken to social media to express their disdain regarding Colin Kaepernick’s latest venture: an AI-based comics platform. Kaepernick was seen with Black comic book creators at SDCC last week and many were unmoved by his presence. Right before he arrived, Fast Company announced that the former NFL athlete had raised $4 million to launch Lumi–the AI platform that promises to help indie comic and manga creators publish their content without the “gatekeepers” of traditional publishing. According to the company’s press release, the AI platform declares itself ” a groundbreaking platform that empowers creators by providing them with the tools needed to independently create, publish, and merchandise their stories both digitally and physically.”

Quietly as it is kept, Colin Kaepernick has been eyeing Black comics and the creatives that support them for some time now. Earlier this year, several Black comic book creators collaborated to participate in the now-viral video,” We are Black comic book creators” challenge. Many celebrated that the superstar athlete turned-activist-now publisher made it on his radar. They were ecstatic when Kaepernick followed them on social media.

Why the sudden interest in comics?

Out of all of the artists who appeared in the Black Comics challenge, Kaepernick chose to meet with several of them to talk about comics. It is not confirmed if Kaepernick engaged in conversations with the listed Black women creators. Nothing serious came to fruition from those meetings. Black creatives remained elated that Kaepernick was showing an interest in comics. They didn’t realize he was potentially gathering intel as he prepared to launch a company that would further impact marginalized creatives.

Lumi hasn’t unveiled any real details as of yet.

There aren’t many details about what Lumi offers aspiring creative entrepreneurs. According to the official statement from Lumi, it will be subscription-based. Based on speculation, the app appears to be geared towards comic book and manga writers and other storytellers who are not visual artists. There have also been unofficial mentions of subscribers being able to ship and design merchandise through the app. Serena Williams‘ husband, Alexis Ohanian and his team Seven Seven Six are also a prominent factor in this project. Kaepernick then went on record and stated that this app is an extension of his activism. 

Even after discussing AI comics with some of these creators and hearing them collectively tell him what is needed, he still chose a road that would hurt Black artists. To make matters worse,  Kaepernick still appeared at SDCC with his engineer scoping out the artist alley halls. Why is Kaepernick meeting Black creatives with his engineer? Does the engineer make comics, too? Or, is Kaepernick using colonizing tactics to mine content and find ways to exploit Black creatives for profit? Considering his official stance against “gatekeepers”, could he not be seen as one as well since he also has an imprint? He has the resources to put together any team he wants. With his influence, why would he choose to leave it up to AI to tell stories that Black writers want to tell? 

Celebs are getting their hands on IP to adapt to film and television to increase their net worth.

Since the pandemic, it seems celebs have been trying new ways to garner new streams of income. Between the oversaturated beauty market with celebrity hair care brands, it appears that even the wealthy amongst us are feeling the impact of an uncertain economy. Celebs like Oprah and Reese Witherspoon have been using their book clubs as the face of their production companies to invest in publishing rights to acquire books to adapt to screen.

Now, with the success of comic book-based shows such as The Boys, Invincible and Umbrella Academy, celebs are approaching comics like they are NFTs. Celebs are actively seeking intellectual property to buy and adapt for Hollywood. By preying on emerging and successful Black comic book creators, you can easily tap into a loyal, culturally rich fanbase while selling Black culture to a mainstream audience for profit. You may ask yourself, ‘Isn’t that the goal for creatives?’. Yes, it is for many, but at the same time, they don’t need a middleman acting as a broker between their art and mainstream audiences.  Knowing that you can not copyright AI art it’s hard to be optimistic about Lumi and Kaepernick’s intentions. 

What’s happening with Kaepernick Publishing?

In 2020, Kaepernick released his memoir through his imprint Kaepernick Publishing. This was around the same time he was announced as a new board member for Medium—the almost forgotten blog platform that got brushed away for Substack. Despite its declining popularity, had anyone read any abolitionist written works from Kaepernick Publishing or Medium? At the time of writing this, the Medium account hasn’t posted anything since Oct. 2020. The following is a statement from Kaepernick where he announced his intentions with Black writers.

“I am excited for Kaepernick Publishing to partner with Medium to continue to elevate Black voices in the news and publishing industry,” said Kaepernick, in a statement. “I also look forward to creating new opportunities and avenues for Black writers and creators with my new role as a Board member.”

Since Kaepernick has his own imprint, is he not a gatekeeper, too? 

Kaepernick hasn’t shown he’s truly invested in Black comics or creators.

If he is passionate about AI art and comics, he should at least do the research. Find and collaborate with AI artists trying to make AI art ethical (some will argue this isn’t possible, though). But it’s a bit sneaky to gather information from Black artists. It’s even more disappointing when their concerns are twisted and reshaped into social justice jargon.  It is not fair to use the disadvantages that Black artists face to make a profit.