A DECADE after he first took a knee during the US national anthem, Colin Kaepernick has announced he will be publishing his life story.

The activist and former San Francisco 49ers quarterback has completed The Perilous Fight, to come out September 15. 

His memoir will come out almost exactly 10 years after he knelt before a pre-season game, a protest against police violence and racial inequality that was emulated by some players and criticised by politicians, team owners and fans, some of whom booed him and burned his jersey.

Kaepernick, who has not played in the NFL since 2016, said in a statement that he wanted to offer context for what led to his taking a knee. Before that, he had remained seated during the anthem.

“People saw the moment. But they didn’t see the years that made it possible: the questions about who I was; the injustices I could no longer ignore; the voices of those who came before me that I carried into that stadium,” Kaepernick said in a statement. 

“That journey, from a black kid navigating an identity the world didn’t always make space for, to an athlete who realised the game was bigger than football, shaped everything. When I took a knee, it wasn’t a sudden act.”