“Belief has nothing to do with truth.”
― Percival Everett, James

The Timing Tells You Everything

On optics, vendors, and the quiet rules that govern Metro Nashville Public Schools

Yesterday marked the anniversary of the tragic shooting at Antioch High School.

It was also the day Metro Nashville Public Schools chose to host Colin Kaepernick.

That overlap matters.

Not because of Kaepernick’s politics. Not because of whether you cheered or booed when he took a knee. It matters because institutions reveal themselves through timing — through what they prioritize, what they amplify, and what they quietly move past.

On a day when a school community was remembering loss, MNPS rolled out a celebrity visit.

Not just any celebrity.

A vendor.

Who Colin Kaepernick Was — and Is

For those unfamiliar with his football résumé, Colin Kaepernick was a starting NFL quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers. He played six seasons (2011–2016), became the team’s starter in 2012, and led the team to a Super Bowl appearance. A dual-threat quarterback, he set an NFL record for rushing yards by a quarterback in a playoff game (181 yards) and was, for a time, among the most dynamic players at his position.

By 2016, however, his production had fallen off. He was no longer a franchise cornerstone, but a quarterback trying to hold onto a roster spot.

That’s when he decided he could no longer stand during the National Anthem.

The controversy that followed turned him into a symbol. To some, a hero. To others, a provocateur. To everyone, a lightning rod. Kaepernick never played another down in the NFL. Whether his career was “cut short” or simply reached its natural endpoint depends on how much you believe he had left when he took that knee.

That debate has raged for nearly a decade.

But it is not the debate MNPS invited into its schools yesterday.

Why Was He Here?

Colin Kaepernick wasn’t in Nashville to reflect on gun violence.

He wasn’t here to honor Antioch.

He wasn’t here to talk about school safety, trauma response, or the warning signs districts miss.

He was here to sell something.

Kaepernick is the co-founder of Lumi, a web-based digital storytelling platform that allows users to create short animated narratives using pre-built characters, scenes, text, music, and voiceover. Lumi functions as a creative authoring tool — not a curriculum and not an instructional program.

In educational settings, Lumi is positioned as a supplemental resource meant to support writing, oral language development, and student expression. Lesson design, standards alignment, and assessment remain the responsibility of educators and districts.

That distinction matters, because it draws a clear line between tool and instruction.

And that’s where the questions begin.

The Educator Gap

Lumi may be interesting. It may even be useful.

But neither Colin Kaepernick nor his partner, Nessa Diab, are educators.

Lumi is a privately held, for-profit platform created by people whose professional backgrounds are in athletics, media, and advocacy — not K-12 education. That alone does not disqualify the product, but it does heighten the district’s responsibility to proceed carefully.

When tools developed outside classroom practice are considered for use in MNPS, adoption should be grounded in documented instructional need, comparison with educator-designed alternatives, clear cost analysis, and defined measures of effectiveness — not visibility, branding, or leadership access.

The Pilot — and the Post

Lumi does not currently have a contract with MNPS.

Still, a Facebook post announced that Founder and CEO Colin Kaepernick joined the district for the kickoff of a pilot program at Jones Paideia Elementary School, McKissack Middle School, and Whites Creek High School.

Superintendent Dr. Adrienne Battle was quoted:

“We want our students to approach artificial intelligence with confidence and curiosity, not fear. This pilot allows students to use AI as a tool for creativity and communication, while reinforcing our strong literacy framework and our belief that every student’s voice matters.”

The quote does a lot of work. It frames the visit as forward-thinking, situates Lumi within literacy, and invokes student voice — while bypassing the harder questions districts are typically expected to answer before pilots begin.

Why this tool?
Why now?
Why this pathway?

Vendor or Activist?

Complicating matters is Kaepernick’s other work.

In 2016, he founded Know Your Rights Camp (KYRC), which describes its mission as advancing the “liberation and well-being of Black and Brown communities through education, self-empowerment, mass mobilization, and the creation of new systems that elevate the next generation of change leaders.”

KYRC also published Black and White: The Kaepernick Curriculum, alongside the Netflix miniseries Colin in Black & White, with an accompanying teaching guide.

If MNPS intends to use that curriculum, the process is not informal. Curriculum adoption is tightly regulated and closely monitored by the state.

Which raises a simple question:

Why was Kaepernick here — as a vendor, or as an activist?

The district has not clarified.

“Absolutely Bewildered”

J.C. Bowman, Executive Director of Professional Educators of Tennessee, didn’t mince words.

“As a staunch defender of our public schools in Tennessee, I’m absolutely bewildered at the decision of a school district to invite Colin Kaepernick to engage with MNPS administrators and students,” Bowman said.

“Let’s be clear: Kaepernick had his moment in the NFL, but his career ended back in 2016. So why on earth does he hold any relevance for today’s students, many of whom likely don’t even know who he is?”

That question lingers.

And it lands harder when you consider the date.

Why Yesterday?

At 8 a.m., Superintendent Battle released a statement marking the Antioch anniversary. The message was compassionate and forward-looking.

It did not mention the shooter’s name.

“Today, we hold the Antioch High School community and the Escalante family in our hearts…”

The omission is striking.

Especially in light of conversations with MNPS board members who argue — correctly — that regardless of prior behavior incidents, MNPS owed Solomon Henderson a quality education.

Yet a year later, the district expresses no institutional culpability for missing signs that might have prevented tragedy — for both Henderson and his classmate, Josselin Corea Escalante, who he killed.

A district that touts “Every Child Known” becomes, in moments like this, a district where a student is forgotten. The Superintendent’s brief social-media statement was the only documented action MNPS took to mark the anniversary— no district-wide observance, no school-based acknowledgment, no public moment of reflection.

That absence is made more striking by the fact that Antioch High School was one of the schools connected to the day’s programming surrounding Colin Kaepernick’s visit. On a day when the district chose to highlight a vendor and a pilot initiative, it chose not to visibly honor the loss that defines Antioch’s recent history.

In a system that routinely emphasizes intentionality, that contrast warrants scrutiny.

A Year Later

This week, police announced they are searching for Henderson’s mother. DNA evidence has linked the gun used in the shooting to Chrysta Thomas, a convicted felon barred from possessing firearms.

Why that took a year remains unclear.

Thomas reportedly left town shortly after the tragedy. Her name has now been entered into the FBI’s National Crime Information Center with nationwide extradition.

Accountability arrives slowly — if at all.

Another NFL Player. A Different Reception.

There is another irony here.

As MNPS pilots one former NFL player’s educational tool, it appears poised to sideline another.

Kevin Dyson is best known to football fans for his college career at the University of Utah, where he emerged as a standout wide receiver before entering the NFL. He played six professional seasons (1998–2003), primarily with the Tennessee Titans, finishing with 2,325 receiving yards and 18 touchdowns.

Dyson was part of two defining moments in Titans history — a key reception during the Music City Miracle, and being tackled one yard short of the end zone on the final play of Super Bowl XXXIV.

After retiring from the NFL, Dyson transitioned into education, beginning as a middle-school teacher and football coach within MNPS. He later earned a doctorate in educational leadership and served in school-based administrative roles before becoming principal of Centennial High School. In 2025, he left Centennial to launch his own school.

Dyson is now attempting to start a charter school in MNPS geared toward high-school athletes — built on two decades of classroom and leadership experience.

It is a solid idea.

And yet it is difficult to imagine Dyson being introduced to principals, celebrated by district leadership, or welcomed into schools with the same enthusiasm afforded to Kaepernick.

Two players, two different approaches, two very different receptions.

A Familiar Pattern: Vendors and Consequences

A few years ago, Tennessee went through a formal process to hire a vendor to manage its voucher and scholarship programs. Five companies submitted proposals. ClassWallet won the competitive bidding process.

According to Chalkbeat Tennessee, “On a 100-point scale, ClassWallet scored more than 20 points higher than Students First.”

Negotiations failed. The state pivoted to Students First Technologies, signing a $3.675 million, five-year contract, despite the company’s limited capacity and staffing.

Problems followed. The Tennessee Comptroller later flagged software shortcomings. Tennessee eventually returned to ClassWallet.

That reunion has not been smooth.

ClassWallet has since drawn scrutiny in multiple states, including Arizona, Oklahoma, and Missouri, over data breaches and fund-tracking failures. Lawsuits and contract reviews followed.

It is a small sample size.

But Tennessee has rarely proven itself the exception.

Back to MNPS — and the Rules

Which brings us back to MNPS.

In 2024, then-Chief Academic Officer Mason Bellamy stepped down. After the Antioch shooting, he returned as Chief of Special Projects, despite lacking experience in high-school administration or school security.

MNPS policy requires teachers to remain out of the district for a year after leaving. Administrators, it seems, operate under different rules.

Bellamy returned at his prior salary and was later named Deputy Superintendent. The job posting, salary, and rationale remain unclear.

That pattern extends elsewhere. Two senior leaders in MNPS Student Support oversee educators without having taught in a classroom. In public interviews, this is framed as “support.”

Teachers might describe it differently.

Two sets of rules.

Final Thought

This isn’t corporate media.

There’s no team.
No budget.
No handlers.

It’s just me — trying to keep up, trying to keep you informed, and trying to say what others won’t.

If you value that work:

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Until next time:

Accountability begins with accuracy — and with listening to the people closest to the work.

Categories: Education