Well, things just got interesting in the alt-history entertainment game.
Turns out that Confederate, the now controversial series from Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss isn’t the only alternative history drama in the works.
For over a year, producer Will Packer (Straight Outta Compton) and Aaron McGruder (creator of the Peabody-winning The Boondocks and co-creator of Black Jesus) have been working on Black America, a series for Amazon.
From the Deadline exclusive published yesterday: “It envisions an alternate history where newly freed African Americans have secured the Southern states of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama post-Reconstruction as reparations for slavery, and with that land, the freedom to shape their own destiny.”
It sounds like there is plenty of drama baked into this new alt-premise production, which is smart. It should make for lively television. Frankly, a more realistic program dedicated to imagining the impact of actual reparations, like I like to fantasize about in my spare time, might not make it past the idea stage.
Let me give you a couple of examples. I simply cannot imagine watching white Southerners, afraid for their ill-gained fortunes, being effectively encouraged to find ways to live and work productively with their former chattel. That sounds like it would take a lot of meetings.
There would have been cinematic rough patches, I grant you. After all, according to Yale professor David Blight, “in 1860, slaves as an asset were worth more than all of America’s manufacturing, all of the railroads, all of the productive capacity of the United States put together.” That’s a lot to lose.
But after the awkward part? A generation after all those reconciliation councils had created a new representative government? Think of the revitalized communities, new business developments, and agricultural innovation we might have had. There would have been so many Booker T. Washingtons running around back then, we’d need a year of Februarys to celebrate the breakthroughs. The post-Civil War “black codes” would have been dismantled. The Klan, an emerging terrorist force, would have been properly punished. And the thirteenth amendment to the Constitution would have gotten a much-needed re-write.
Now, imagine The Great Migration without the pain and suffering. Where’s the drama in that? It would just be known as “that time the family moved.” Yawn.
Scene: A family arrives in Chicago in search better-paying manufacturing work and a new life. It’s 1919. They are welcomed by their neighbors. Eventually, they find affordable homes to finance and buy instead of being exploited by “contract sellers.” Equal access to education. Attentive doctors. Helpful police. Churches which opted to disavow racism instead of cementing it into the cornerstone of their faith. Everyone has normal problems.
Cut. So boring.
In my fantasy series, this sorry scene would be repeated in zip codes across the country since the cities currently suffering from widespread income inequality (and race-based strife) tended to be Great Migration destinations. With a different history, today they’d be filled with a bunch of Regular Jamals and Shaniqua Q. Citizens building on generational wealth, living their best lives, minding their own damn (thriving) businesses. Right? Who’d watch that?
It gets worse. Without a race riot for its inspiration, Kathryn Bigelow’s new movie “Detroit” would be a tired documentary about auto innovation, the evolution of jazz music, and middle-class success. Colin Kaepernick would have a job. “The talk” would involve college admission strategies. Two generations of black Americans would enjoy the security generated by favorable home financing, a benefit only extended to white veterans following World War II.
And I would have funny memories of my (no longer) “angry black man” dad ambling around the yard he could have afforded, good-naturedly yammering about cleaning up the garage like a Norman Rockwell painting come to life. They would have been like the memories my white husband has from his childhood, memories heavy with feelings of belonging, safety, opportunity, and contentment.
I’d miss hip-hop, that’s for sure. But whatever came instead would probably be just as good. Maybe a collaborative genre with some now reservation-free indigenous artists? I mean, if you’re going to reconcile, why stop with the formerly enslaved?
Make no mistake, I’m a huge fan of both Packer and McGruder. I’m curious enough to want to check out their show when it debuts.
I fully concede that my dull fantasy series would probably not be as entertaining. Still, I’d watch it every day. Maybe twice on Sundays.
On Point
| Republican conservatives are now planning a CPAC style conference to attract and retain minority voters |
| It’s called the Multicultural Policy and Political Action Conference, and it would be the first of its kind. It’s the brainchild of two long-time Republican insiders, Aaron Manaigo and Elroy Sailor, and an attempt to help black conservatives find a voice in government by working around the Trump administration. "The administration has shown that black Republicans don't matter to them," said one party leader, speaking anonymously to Buzzfeed. "It's a question now of, Do we work around them, or do we get in where we fit in?" The conference plans to bring together subject matter experts, policy wonks, grassroots activists and others for “in-depth discussions on the most feasible options, strategy and tactics to positively impact the 2018/2020 election cycles.” The goal? Engage young voters and build capacity to push on issues important to underrepresented communities. Maybe a campus outreach? Or not. |
| Buzzfeed |
| Christine Tai, the co-founder of 500 Startups, speaks publicly about the ouster of Dave McClure |
| In front of a silent room of entrepreneurs and investors at 500 Startups' demo day, Tai hit the allegations head on. “For many of you this was a confusing, emotional time where you probably questioned the 500 that you knew," Tsai said. "This mission is much bigger than just one person. And it's way too important to be taken down by one person's mistakes.” She also outlined her plan to restructure the company in a blog post here. |
| Recode |
| On being the only one in the room |
| NPR’s Gene Demby breaks down the unique pressure of being the only fill-in-the-blank-minority in any professional room. He starts with a recent interview that generated a lot of buzz: Wyatt Cenac, a former writer for The Daily Show, explained to podcaster Marc Maron that host Jon Stewart badly mishandled a conversation about race in one of the proposed sketches. Hard to believe that being the only black writer on The Daily Show is exactly as much fun as being the only one in every other office. Demby digs deeper, citing expert commentary and cultural observation to highlight how even supposed liberal bastions like Stewart can be problematic. “[I]t turns out that being The Only One isn't simply burdensome and annoying on an individual level,” says Demby, “There's evidence that when people feel like they're The Only One in a group, even a group that professes to care about diversity in its ranks, it actually gets in the way of everything said diversity was supposed to achieve in the first place.” A must read and share. |
| Code Switch |
The Woke Leader
| A black village was razed to make way for New York's Central Park |
| It was called Seneca Village, and it grew to span the blocks between 82nd and 89th streets on what is now the western edge of the park. It was founded in 1825 and became a refuge for the nominally free men and women who lived and worked there; half of the residents owned their own homes. Three churches, a school and dozens of homes were demolished, lost in a slapdash court battle. Researchers from Columbia, CUNY, and the New York Historical Society have been pushing to excavate the site, with some efforts beginning in earnest in 2011. To understand more about the black experience up North in the 1800s would be a gift to history, since it can’t have been easy. Said Mordecai Noah, founder of The New York Enquirer, “the free negroes of this city are a nuisance incomparably greater than a million slaves.” |
| Bushman Tumbler |
| Finding peace on the trail |
| An increasing number of returning combat veterans, trying to reclaim their time from the fog of war, are taking long, cross-country treks to find a sense of peace. “All over the country, veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are on similar quests,” explains New York Times writer Dave Phillips. “By foot, boat, bicycle, even wheelchair, they are crisscrossing the land this summer, trying to cobble serenity from lives upended by combat.” Master Sgt. Jeremy Tierney, an elite Army Ranger who had deployed thirteen times, paused in the middle of a 3,100-mile group hike to explain. He called it his last deployment. “You get to see the worst of humanity. After all that I was pretty angry, pretty pessimistic,” he said. “This walk is for recentering.” |
| New York Times |
| Dying at home, with friends |
| Playwright and actor Sam Shepard died at home this week. He was the kind of deep, committed friend that doesn't seem to exist much anymore - at least until you read this gorgeous tribute from his lifelong friend Patti Smith. If you commit to making art with all your being, it seems, you find fellow travelers that walk and talk with you, sometimes in the middle of the night, for decades. They also sit with you and yours while you take your last breath. RIP Sam, and may your memory be a blessing to those who loved you. We should all aspire to be this kind of friend. Enjoy. |
| New Yorker |
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