Black in Period Films

The news about an adaption of Oney Judge’s life has made me extremely happy. According to (news site) the film will be based on author and historian Erica Armstrong Dunbar’s book titled, Never Caught: The Washingtons' Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge. I’ve heard about this brave woman on multiple occasions and have always thought a film or series about her life (if done correctly) would be awesome. The book was optioned by Lisa Ellis of Provenance Media and Richard Abate of 3 Arts Entertainment and they will co-produce the film. Oney Judge’s Story: Born on January 1, 1773, Oney "Ona" Judge was a mixed-race slave on George Washington's plantation, Mount Vernon, in Virginia. Ona stands out because she was a favored slave of the first president’s wife Martha. Additionally, she ran away from bondage and was never caught. Her being born to a white indentured servant named Andrew Judge and an enslaved black woman named Betty Davis adds additional la...

Some exciting news about Jussie Smollett and his role as Langston Hughes as developed! In an interview with ESSENCE 's Yes Girl podcast, Jussie Smollett says that he'll be portraying Langston Hughes in a future biopic for the poet and activist. Had to go butt faced to become the great #LangstonHughes in the upcoming film #Marshall. Thank you @reggiehudlin for the opportunity. It's been a dream. 🙏🏿 A post shared by Jussie Smollett (@jussiesmollett) on Jun 8, 2016 at 6:36pm PDT He says: "I was doing a tribute to John Legend at the NAACP Image Awards —not this past one but the year before— and Reginald (Hudlin, the director of Marshall) came up to me and said, 'You favor Langston Hughes so much. I just want to know if you'd be down to do a cameo in Marshall as Langston Hughes?'" Smollett said he told the director, "I'll do it on one condition —that within three years, we do the full Langston Hughes movie," to which he respo...

On the season 4 premiere of Black-ish, we are treated with a musical (Hamilton inspired) based on the oft-forgotten holiday Juneteenth. Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration commemorating the ending of slavery in the United States. Dating back to 1865, it was on June 19ththat the Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free. ( source ) Episode Summary: After getting upset by the twins' Columbus Day school play, Dre decides to take matters into his own hands with a Juneteenth musical.  One of the musical numbers 'I Am A Slave' performed by The Roots was accompanied by Schoolhouse Rock-esque animation on why Juneteenth is celebrated. The musical numbers "We Built It" and "Freedom" portray the Johnson family as slaves. "We Built It" comes first, with the elder Johnsons explaining to the younger one that it was sla...

One chapter in history that I'd like to see more of in film is that of the contraband camps of the American Civil War. Below is a brief history lesson on "contraband" and the camps they lived in. The effects of the proclamaition – freed Negroes coming into our lines at  Newbern, North Carolina.' Harper's Weekly, Feb. 21, 1863. "Contraband was a term commonly used in the United States military during the American Civil War to describe a new status for certain escaped slaves or those who affiliated with Union forces. The Army (and the United States Congress) determined that the US would not return escaped slaves who went to Union lines and classified them as contraband. They used many as laborers to support Union efforts and soon began to pay them wages. The former slaves set up camps near Union forces, and the Army helped support and educate both adults and children among the refugees. Thousands of men from these camps enlisted in the United States ...

FOX has a script order out for a drama series based on the book Our Kind of People: Inside America’s Black Upper Class. The series will be "a multi-generational family drama uncovering the lives of America’s black upper class by chronicling a dazzling Chicago dynasty with a dark secret threatening to rip it apart." ( source ) Book Blurb "Debutante cotillions. Million-dollar homes. Summers in Martha's Vineyard. Membership in the Links, Jack & Jill, Deltas, Boule, and AKAs. An obsession with the right schools, families, social clubs, and skin complexion. This is the world of the black upper class and the focus of the first book written about the black elite by a member of this hard-to-penetrate group. Author and TV commentator Lawrence Otis Graham, one of the nation's most prominent spokesmen on race and class, spent six years interviewing the wealthiest black families in America. He includes historical photos of a people that made their first million...

Today (September the 3rd) is the anniversary of Frederick Douglass' 1838 escape to freedom. On September 3, 1838 Douglass escaped bondage with the help of free woman, Anna Murray (his wife-to-be). According to IMDB there have been 43 portrayals of Douglass in film and in series. In honor of the abolitionist and orator's escape we will highlight a few of these film and series portrayals.  Glory (1989)  Played by Raymond St. Jacques Copper (2013) Episode: Aileen Aroon  Played by Eamonn Walker American Experience (2013) Part 1, 2, and 3  Played by Richard Brooks / Anthony Michael Hobbs (as Young Frederick Douglass) / Leiv Clegg (as Teenaged Frederick Douglass) Drunk History (2010)  Vol. 5: Featuring Will Ferrell  Played by Don Cheadle (as Fredrick Douglass) North and South (1985) Book I - (6 episodes) Played by Robert Guillaume Underground (2017)  Episode: Whiteface ...

Two African American sisters grow up in racially charged 1960s Georgia, but one is born with fair skin. And when schools integrate in their small town, she decides to change her destiny - by passing for white. Across The Tracks Official Trailer from Mike Cooke on Vimeo . The story begins with the sisters older and living very separate lives. The death of their mother brings them together again in the small town of their youth. As they lay their mother to rest, the past rises up to meet them and we witness the moment that tore their family apart. This short film tackles issues of identity, colorism, peer pressure and bullying and explores the damage that one momentary lapse in judgment can have on an entire life. Cast Brynn Crosby as Young Tara Berkeley Clayborne as Young Ella Thursday Farrar as TaraCarla McCullough as Ella E. Roger Mitchell as Daddy Nicky Buggs as Mama Don Battee as Walter Lee This short film was honored at The African Movie Academy Awards in 201...