BOOK OF NEGROES, THE: EPISODE 6 (TV)
Summary
The final 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 is thrilled when she finally arrives back in Africa in 1792, and though the others are taken aback by Clarkson's statement that they will be governed by British officers, Daddy Moses urges them all to focus on making progress. The settlers build "Freetown" from scratch, and Aminata makes plans to travel inland to her original village, Bayo. She is horrified when she spots a group of Africans being kidnapped by traders as she once was and frantically tells them not to "give up," and Daddy Moses is fatally stabbed when he attempts to intervene and rescue the soon-to-be slaves. Later, Aminata meets Dr. Falconbridge, who offers to escort her to Bayo, though Chekura argues that the journey is too dangerous. Aminata nevertheless bargains with one of the slavetraders, Allasane, to help her reach her childhood home, and she turns down Clarkson's invitation to come to England and tell her story to support a new bill outlawing the slave trade – though not slavery itself – which is soon to be voted upon.
Chekura and Aminata accompany Allasane into the forest as he heads towards Bayo, and Aminata is disturbed to see him associating with Daddy Moses' murderer. When they spot several children being taken in chains to the ships, Chekura vows to rescue them as penance for assisting with Aminata's long-ago capture, and though he manages to free the captives late at night, he is grievously injured in a fight with Allasane and dies after urging Aminata to go on without him. Devastated, Aminata flees into the woods and eventually collapses, and she awakens to find that she has been taken in and cared for by nearby villagers. She tells them the story of her capture and life in America and Canada, sadly explaining that she has now lost Chekura for good, and she eventually decides that she has found closure and does not need to return to Bayo after all.
Aminata journeys to London and reunites with Clarkson, who introduces her to an "enthusiastic" group of abolitionists fascinated by her story. She finds that she is being prevented from fraternizing with the black people of London in order to keep her testimony "pure," but she informs the abolitionists that she will write her own truthful story regardless of "interference." She later speaks at the House of Parliament about her many years of hardship, and though some refuse to believe in her intelligence and literacy, she stands her ground and soon achieves a degree of fame in London for her remarkable tale. The bill banning the slave trade passes by a wide majority, and Aminata is shocked when she encounters a young woman who reveals herself to be May, her long-lost daughter brought back to her by the now-elderly Solomon Lindo. Aminata muses that she has truly become a djeli after all, though notes that there is still "a long road to walk" in truly ending slavery, and hopes that her stories will live on beyond her and bring change to the world. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: BET
- DATE: November 30, 1999 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:41:16
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 122138
- 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
- Allan Hawco … Cast, Solomon Lindo
- Louis Gossett Jr. … Cast, Daddy Moses
- Shailyn Pierre-Dixon … Cast, Young Aminata
- Rori Mortuba … Cast, May Diallo
- Danny Keough … Cast, Dr. Danny Falconbridge
- David Butler … Cast, William Armstrong
- Nick Pauling … Cast, William Wilberforce
- Daniel Fox … Cast, Samuel York
- Anthony Oseyemi … Cast, Dante
- Mark Elderkin … Cast, Stanley Hastings
- Francis Chouler … Cast, Neil Park
- Fana Mokoena … Cast, Allasane
- Mohammed Ismail … Cast, Freetown Coffle Leader
- Sylvia Mdunyelwa … Cast, Salvation Village Elder
- Vizuri Modjadi … Cast, Sierra Leone Coffle Young Girl
- Freddy Djanabia … Cast, Coffle's Translator
- Paul Bakashala … Cast, Freetown Coffle Boy