FanFare

In 1839, the slave ship Amistad set sail from Cuba to America. During the long trip, Cinque (Djimon Hounsou) leads the slaves in an unprecedented uprising. They are then held prisoner in Connecticut, and their release becomes the subject of heated debate. Freed slave Theodore Joadson (Morgan Freeman) wants Cinque and the others exonerated and recruits property lawyer Roger Baldwin (Matthew McConaughey) to help his case. Eventually, John Quincy Adams (Anthony Hopkins) also becomes an ally. [more inside]
posted by DirtyOldTown on Feb 2, 2023 - 2 comments

The life of southern belle Scarlett O'Hara (Vivien Leigh) begins on a sprawling plantation, then veers across the history of the South during the Civil War and Reconstruction, and her tangled love affairs with Ashley Wilkes (Leslie Howard) and Rhett Butler (Clark Gable). [more inside]
posted by DirtyOldTown on Nov 9, 2022 - 13 comments

In the years before the Civil War, Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a free black man from upstate New York, is kidnapped and sold into slavery in the South. Subjected to the cruelty of one malevolent owner (Michael Fassbender), he also finds unexpected kindness from another, as he struggles continually to survive and maintain some of his dignity. Then in the 12th year of the disheartening ordeal, a chance meeting with an abolitionist from Canada changes Solomon's life forever. [more inside]
posted by DirtyOldTown on Oct 16, 2022 - 5 comments

With rumors of insurrection in the air, a cleric convinces Samuel that Nat (Nate Parker) should sermonize to other slaves, thereby quelling any notions of an uprising. As Nat witnesses the horrific treatment of his fellow man, he realizes that he can no longer just stand by and preach. On Aug. 21, 1831, Turner's quest for justice and freedom leads to a violent and historic rebellion in Southampton County. [more inside]
posted by DirtyOldTown on Oct 12, 2022 - 6 comments

Amazon Prime says: "From Academy Award winner Barry Jenkins and based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Colson Whitehead, 'The Underground Railroad' is a new series that chronicles Cora Randall’s desperate bid for freedom in the Antebellum South. After escaping a Georgia plantation for the rumored Underground Railroad, Cora discovers no mere metaphor, but an actual railroad beneath the Southern soil." I've just watched the full ten episodes of this over a period of about two weeks. I found it very gripping, full of great casting and first-rate performances. The later episodes are stronger than the early ones in my view, but maybe that just reflects my increasing investment in the show as it went on. What did other MeFites make of it? [more inside]
posted by Paul Slade on Jun 7, 2021 - 6 comments

Captain Flint prepares for the final battle, while Billy tries to save Captain Vane from being hanged; Max must decide who she can trust; Eleanor Guthrie finds herself in charge of Nassau. [more inside]
posted by No Robots on Jan 1, 2021 - 2 comments

A young slave living in the Kansas territory in 1856 has a fateful run-in with abolitionist John Brown, who "frees" him, nicknames him "Onion" and welcomes him into his ragtag army. (Showtime, adaptation of 2013 James McBride book) [more inside]
posted by oh yeah! on Oct 4, 2020 - 12 comments

This week, from the white void: Coronavirus spreads like crazy due to idiotic mass gatherings by US Americans, enabled by powerful idiots who refuse to take it seriously. And Now: For An Extra $150, Steve Gutenberg Brainstorms Names For Our Co-Worker's New Dog. The main story is on U.S. history, and many US Americans' ignorance of it, especially its history of slavery. On YouTube (28m) LWT is off next week. [more inside]
posted by JHarris on Aug 3, 2020 - 3 comments

It's Data's day in court when Starfleet scientist Bruce Maddox, eager to dissect and replicate him, argues that androids don't have rights. Picard, naturally, has a response to this. [more inside]
posted by CheesesOfBrazil on Jul 31, 2020 - 27 comments

Ah Sahm rethinks his place in San Francisco; Big Bill waits for Lee; Zing and the Fung Hai debate positions with Mai Ling; Dylan Leary brings some friends to negotiate with Bryon Mercer, while Penny has a look at his books. [Season Finale] [more inside]
posted by filthy light thief on Jun 10, 2019 - 12 comments

High adventure fraught with cliffhanger twists marks this runaway-slave narrative, which leaps, sails, and soars from Caribbean cane fields to the fringes of the frozen Arctic and across a whole ocean. (Opening line from Kirkus Review, one of many publications to list Esi Edugyan's novel among the best fiction of 2018). Booker Prize shortlisted nominee. [more inside]
posted by filthy light thief on Feb 2, 2019 - 3 comments

In the present, Irene looks into a mystery involving "Las Sinsombrero," a group of avant-garde women artists and activitsts who have been forgotten. In the course of her investigation, it is discovered that the Vampire of Raval was not arrested when she should have been. She is free, and may be traveling through time. [more inside]
posted by zarq on Jun 6, 2018 - 6 comments

In a dystopicly polluted rightwing religious tyranny, a young woman is put in sexual slavery on account of her now rare fertility. [more inside]
posted by elgilito on Sep 4, 2017 - 2 comments

Some information is so big and so complicated that it seems impossible to talk to kids about. This week, stories about the vague and not-so-vague ways to teach children about race, death and sex - including a story about colleges responding to sexual assault by trying to teach students how to ask for consent. Also, a story about how and when to teach kids about the horrors of slavery and oppression in America.
posted by wonton endangerment on May 18, 2015 - 5 comments

CBC's production of Lawrence Hill's acclaimed epic novel begins by introducing 11-year old Aminata Diallo, just as she is stolen from her home in West Africa and forced into slavery. [more inside]
posted by chapps on Jan 25, 2015 - 4 comments