The Paley Center for Media hosted an advanced screening of BET’s anticipated miniseries The Book Of Negroes and I had a chance to attend. I also had a chance to catch up and read excerpts of the book that the miniseries is based on. Having already watched the fourth episode of the miniseries I am very excited to see the rest of the miniseries and witness the reaction of the viewers.
The Book of Negroes is the mini-series version of Lawrence Hill’s book, which was released in the United States as Someone Knows My Name. The miniseries follows Aminata Diallo, who is a British slave during the Revolutionary War, and is granted her freedom in return for working for the British. The screening held at The Paley Center for Media included stars Aunjanue Ellis, Cuba Gooding Jr., Louis Gossett Jr., Lyriq Bent, and Damon D’Oliveira who are all in the movie. While there is a lot of hypocrisy in the part of the British, while they did free slaves who were owned by Americans, they still kept their own and moved them into Canada. This mini-series debuts at the right time because it demonstrates the progress, perseverance, strength that African Americans have. Louis Gossett Jr., said it best when he stated: “We’ve made progress, not perfection. We’re going in the right direction and you ain’t seen nothing yet.”Just like Aminata Diallo, who is played by Aunjanue Ellis, she has the strength to do what she has to in order to survive; the African American population continues to have the perseverance to keep going forward and make the progress needed.
The book itself is a great read and you should definitely read up The Book of Negroes to get better acquainted with the story before watching the miniseries. The miniseries will run for three straight nights in two hour segments on BET Starting on February 16th. Make sure to tune in!
Twisted Talk: Have you read The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill? Will you tune in to watch the mini-series version of The Book of Negroes? Discuss below!
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