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Harriet and the stories of A.D.O.S.
First of all it needs to be said that the Kasi Lemmons feature film biopic Harriet, the first to feature an African-American woman* is a great movie produced for just $17M and starring Cynthia Erivo and Leslie Odom Jr. It seeks to honor the revolutionary life, profound spiritual gifts and human relationships of the icon known as “Black Moses”.
There is however, something terrible about the attacks on the black women who have been the leads in directing, acting and promoting in this work.
On a personal level, I was glad to watch the movie myself at a packed private screening. This was instead of arriving at a view at the behest of “woke” black twitter and other social media, that Barack Obama recently warned against. As I sat in my seat in the midst of elders, children and every age in between, I was happy and very satisfied with my choice.
It did however give me pause to think about the coordinated online campaign against Ms. Lemmons and Ms. Erivo (mostly coming from those identifying with the American Descendants of Slaves (A.D.O.S.) movement). This has resulted in hashtags such as #NotMyHarriet against one of the few features to be made this decade by Women of Color in the U.S.A. It was striking to me that in one of the online social media posts, Lemmons was linked to Ava DuVernay, the director of the award winning “When They See Us” which tells the story of the Exonerated Five (AKA Central Park Five) so vilified by the current occupant of 1600 Pennysylvania Avenue. To me, this lets the real culprits off the hook and illustrates the challenges for black women in particular to be both successful in the world and respected in black communities.
Harriet, in particular was a movie that took 26 years to be made and there is a legitimate debate to be had about opportunities for African Americans in the media but this is not the responsibility of any single black filmmaker or actor. If…
