BOOK OF NEGROES, THE: EPISODE 1 (TV)
Summary
The first installment in this six-part miniseries, based on the book by Lawrence Hill, about the life of a young woman kidnapped from Africa and sold into slavery in America. The story begins in London in 1807 as an adult Aminata Diallo speaks about her life at the House of Parliament. As a young girl in Mali, Aminata trains as a midwife alongside her mother and observes that people seem to be "slipping away" from their small village. Her father, a convert to Islam, teaches her Arabic and tests her ability to find her way home from anywhere, warning her about the dangers of the forest. Aminata muses that she longs to become a djeli, or a storyteller who preserves their culture's oral history, though she does not stand to inherit the task. Her father accompanies her and her mother as they head to another village to "catch" a new baby, but Aminata is suddenly captured and hauled off by mysterious men and later sees her village aflame. She talks with one of her young captors, Chekura, and is comforted by a woman, Fanta, when she is beaten for openly praying to Allah. Chekura tells her that he too was sold by his uncle and is also enslaved, and Aminata is shocked when she spots a white person for the first time on her way to the "big river."
She is taken to Bance Island and branded, and soon hauled aboard a "big canoe," where she and the other captives are inspected by the doctor, Tom. He orders one defiant man thrown overboard, but Aminata, skilled at dialects thanks to her father, saves Fanta's life by interpreting for her, and Tom is impressed when Aminata declares that she can also deliver a pregnant woman's child. As they sail away from Africa, Aminata talks to several other captives, who are amused by her sharpness and determination, and Tom nicknames her "Mary" and begins to teach her English. She soon successfully delivers the baby, whom the mother then names "Aminata" in gratitude, and Chekura warns Aminata to hide herself, hinting that a rebellion is coming. Fanta murders a sailor while in bed with him and she and a few other prisoners begin slaughtering their captors, but they are overpowered by the sailors' guns and later executed.
The ship eventually arrives in Port Charles Town, South Carolina, and Aminata and Chekura are alarmed to encounter cold weather for the first time in their lives. She remains determined to return home to her village, though she suffers another loss when she and Chekura are sold separately at the market. Aminata's new "master," Robertson Appleby, takes her to his home, where she is comforted by the kindly Georgia, another slave. Years pass, and the adult "Mina" continues her work as a midwife, wary of Appleby's lustful eye upon her. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: BET
- DATE: November 30, 1999 8:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:41:06
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 122127
- GENRE: Drama, historical
- SUBJECT HEADING: African-American Collection - Drama; Drama, historical; Miniseries
- SERIES RUN: BET - TV series, 2015
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Carrie Stein … Executive Producer
- Margaret O'Brien … Executive Producer
- Daniel Iron … Executive Producer
- Michael Levine … Executive Producer
- Damon D'Oliveira … Executive Producer
- Lance Samuels … Executive Producer
- Bill Niven … Executive Producer
- Clement Virgo … Executive Producer, Director, Writer
- Adam Friedlander … Co-Producer
- Roberto Biagi … Co-Producer
- Armand Leo … Co-Producer
- Aeschylus Poulos … Co-Producer
- Justin Giallonardo … Associate Producer
- Kate McColeman … Visual Effects Producer
- Lawrence Hill … Based on the book by
- Philip Miller … Music by
- Aunjanue Ellis … Cast, Aminata Diallo
- Ben Chaplin … Cast, Cpt. John Clarkson
- Greg Byrk … Cast, Robertson Appleby
- Shailyn Pierre-Dixon … Cast, Young Aminata
- Siya Xaba … Cast, Young Chekura
- Sandra Caldwell … Cast, Georgia
- Antonio David Lyons … Cast, Happy Jack
- Andile Gumbi … Cast, Mamadu
- Nondumiso Tembe … Cast, Fanta
- Thishiwe Ziqubu … Cast, Sira
- Clayton Evertson … Cast, D'Silva
- Robin Smith … Cast, William King
- Aubrey Poo … Cast, Biton
- Zethu Dlomo … Cast, Sanu
- Anele Matoti … Cast, Hanif
- T.A. Dereck Lungu … Cast, Rono
- Karabo Mokhachane … Cast, Abiba
- Jerry Mofokeng … Cast, The Djeli
- Desmond Dube … Cast, Fomba
- James Alexander … Cast, First White Man
- Nick Boraine … Cast, Slaveship Doctor
- Thembikile Komani … Cast, Deranged Man