BOOK OF NEGROES, THE: EPISODE 5 (TV)
Summary
The fifth 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. In this episode, Aminata arrives in Shelburne, Nova Scotia, in 1783, wondering how she will reunite with Chekura, who traveled to Canada ahead of her. She meets Jason Wood, whose story she recorded in her book in Manhattan, and he introduces her to the local preacher, "Daddy Moses." Aminata is disturbed by the freezing weather and harsh conditions, but soon finds a place to live in nearby Birchtown, where she continues working as a midwife in exchange for meager goods. Moses' congregation declares that they need fertile land, and Aminata offers to write to abolitionists in Europe for help, though the haughty woman at the print shop, Maria, informs her that her efforts will come to nothing. Aminata soon goes into labor and, with Daddy Moses' help, delivers a son and names him after her father. Mother and baby soon contract cholera, however, and though Aminata recovers, her son dies and she is left despondent at the loss of another child.
Aminata eventually rouses herself and requests a job at the print shop, and Maria admits that she is "one of the good ones" and gives her a position, though Aminata soon realizes that Maria is firmly against the free blacks' presence in the town. She saves her money and journeys to Annapolis Royal, where she learns that Chekura's ship was blown off-course and ended up in Bermuda. A starving young man, Cummings, soon comes to Maria's shop and begs for a job, but she states that she will give him food and shelter only in exchange for three years' indentured servitude, and Aminata urges him not to accept and return to a life of slavery. Later, Maria's boorish son Matthew attempts to assault Aminata, and when Jason comes to her rescue, Matthew is accidentally killed in the struggle. Maria is outraged, sure that someone from Birchwood is to blame for his death, vowing that she will withhold work from all of the residents until justice is served.
Aminata is pleased when Captain Clarkson arrives, and he reveals that fertile land has been established in Sierra Leone and states that he needs 1,000 willing settlers to travel there and established a new town. The people are doubtful, having been disappointed by the Nova Scotia experience, but Clarkson explains that Aminata's many letters have been well-received and that they will be truly free in Africa. He invites Aminata to be his personal assistant and she agrees, though explains that she must first find Chekura. Clarkson writes to his contacts in the British Navy, and Aminata is overjoyed when Chekura arrives on a ship from Bermuda, though she is greatly saddened to tell him of their son's death. Daddy Moses and many other former slaves eventually decide to head to Sierra Leone as well, though Cummings grouses that he has a year left on his servitude to Maria. Maria incites a riot by angrily declaring that Shelburne is for Loyalists and not for job-stealing interlopers, and Jason is fatally shot in the ensuing violence. Aminata witnesses Cummings murdering Maria and then being killed himself by locals, and she soon finds that Daddy Moses' church has been burned, with Clarkson and the others unable to stop the angry mob. Chekura is unharmed, however, and he and Aminata soon depart for Africa, returning home for the first time in decades. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: BET
- DATE: November 30, 1999 8:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:41:15
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 122137
- 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
- Bill Niven … Producer
- Adam Friedlander … Co-Producer
- Roberto Biagi … Co-Producer
- Armand Leo … Co-Producer
- Aeschylus Poulos … Co-Producer
- Justin Giallonardo … Associate Producer
- Margaret Harrison … Line Producer
- Kate McColeman … Visual Effects Producer
- Lawrence Hill … Based on the book by
- Philip Miller … Music by
- Aunjanue Ellis … Cast, Aminata Diallo
- Lyriq Bent … Cast, Chekura Tiano
- Ben Chaplin … Cast, Cpt. John Clarkson
- Joel Thomas Hynes … Cast, Matthew Witherspoon
- Stephan James … Cast, Cummings Shakspear
- Matt Ward … Cast, Jason Wood
- Meredith MacNeill … Cast, Judith Palmer
- Jane Alexander … Cast, Maria
- Louis Gossett Jr. … Cast, Daddy Moses
- Hugh Thompson … Cast, Constable Theodore Barnes
- Jennifer Kydd … Cast, Annapolis Court Clerk
- Kevin Kincaid … Cast, Shelburne Auctioneer
- Dale Bellefontaine … Cast, Shelburne White Labuorer
- Novalee Bucha … Cast, Birchtown Woman in Chruch
- Mike Chandler … Cast, Shelburne Merchant
- Gavin Liddel … Cast, Jason's Boss
- Dan MacDonald … Cast, Drunk Rioter