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<v Speaker 1>Let's talk a little bit about Washington Black. Washington Black,

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<v Speaker 1>of course, is a series that debuted on Hulu earlier

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<v Speaker 1>this week. I think it dropped like Wednesday, right, and

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<v Speaker 1>adapted from ec Eddie you Gan's acclaimed novel, Washington Black

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<v Speaker 1>is a richly imaginative, emotionally resented eight part mini series

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<v Speaker 1>that blends historical fiction, adventure, romance, and speculative realism to

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<v Speaker 1>tell a story rarely seen on screen. Charles Executive produced

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<v Speaker 1>by Sterling K.

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<v Speaker 2>Brown.

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<v Speaker 1>The series transcends familion narratives of slavery by centering hope,

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<v Speaker 1>connection and the trans transformative powerpart.

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<v Speaker 2>Now, let me talk a little bit.

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<v Speaker 1>About this, which I found to be fascinating because I

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<v Speaker 1>watch a lot of stuff, and I'm not discounting anybody

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<v Speaker 1>else's watch experience, but I'm telling you, I'll watch a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of stories about enslaved people, and generally, whenever we

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<v Speaker 1>tell these stories, no matter how hopefully they are, there's

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<v Speaker 1>always subjugation, there's always pain, there's always disrespect, You're always

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<v Speaker 1>being felt less than. And I'm talking about when I

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<v Speaker 1>say we talking about the audience of people of color

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<v Speaker 1>who have to sit through these stories, to sit through

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<v Speaker 1>the pain and the trauma to get to the hope

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<v Speaker 1>and the inspiration on.

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<v Speaker 2>The other side. Well, guess what in this story with

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<v Speaker 2>sans place trauma.

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<v Speaker 1>Well, no, no, in this story that happens in the

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<v Speaker 1>early part of the nineteenth century, Yes, he is an

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<v Speaker 1>enslaved guy who's working in the sugarcane field somewhere over

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<v Speaker 1>in the Barbados for a hateful plantation owner.

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<v Speaker 2>Right.

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<v Speaker 1>The one thing that the movie doesn't show out outside

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<v Speaker 1>of a couple of instances where people might get smacked

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<v Speaker 1>or some stuff like that, there's nobody getting whipped. There's

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<v Speaker 1>not an overabundance of trauma of you know, even though

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<v Speaker 1>they're slaves. It reminded me ironically of a Dave Chappelle skit, Right,

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<v Speaker 1>Dave Chappelle once set in his skit and I'm paraphrasing

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<v Speaker 1>that black men don't ever have we don't ever have.

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<v Speaker 2>The ability to just be and just dream.

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<v Speaker 1>And exists, right, because you know, we always are dealing

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<v Speaker 1>with with some sort of trauma. Well, this is a

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<v Speaker 1>story that happens doing slavery. With the story of a

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<v Speaker 1>kid who's young, he might be five or six, but

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<v Speaker 1>he's you know, he's got a vivid imagination, and he's

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<v Speaker 1>really really smart. And everybody in the community sees that

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<v Speaker 1>this kid could be something special, and they protect him,

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<v Speaker 1>nurture him, hide him, and do whatever they need to

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<v Speaker 1>do to make sure that this kid can be allowed

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<v Speaker 1>to be who he is, which is radically different than

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<v Speaker 1>anything we've never.

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<v Speaker 3>Watched that in terms of that kind of story, In.

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<v Speaker 1>Terms of that kind of story, like, this kid was

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<v Speaker 1>a dreamer who wanted to fly, right, and when when

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<v Speaker 1>they said wanted to fly, he was an inventor who

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<v Speaker 1>wanted to create a machine that could fly.

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<v Speaker 2>Instead of somebody going, boy, just sit your butt in

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<v Speaker 2>the corner, man, anybody got no time for that? Man.

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<v Speaker 2>You coulda picked You coulda.

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<v Speaker 1>Picked it better, chopped his sugar cane and stopped playing.

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<v Speaker 2>He gets, he.

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<v Speaker 1>Meets and and also I called it the Psalm twenty

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<v Speaker 1>three six. Goodness and mercy followed this kid all his

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<v Speaker 1>entire life, his entire life. It was it was fascinating

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<v Speaker 1>to watch. I went, huh, I haven't seen this one before.

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<v Speaker 1>So he you know, he even though that he's on

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<v Speaker 1>a plantation with a hateful slave owner. The slave owner's

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<v Speaker 1>brothers an abolitionists who understands the sees how special he is,

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<v Speaker 1>and the slave master says, you go in on, you

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<v Speaker 1>can take this kid, So him and the kid start

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<v Speaker 1>all these adventures. Now, the thing is interesting about it,

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<v Speaker 1>because I couldn't figure this out myself, is they only

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<v Speaker 1>it's an eight part mini series, but Hulu only gave

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<v Speaker 1>you four episodes to review. So this review that I

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<v Speaker 1>wrote the first four episodes at the pictures non stop.

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<v Speaker 1>So I'm looking at the pictures and I'm trying to

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<v Speaker 1>download the pictures and I'm like, and.

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<v Speaker 2>What point of the story is this kid? Because this

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<v Speaker 2>kid travels all around the world. Now we can't remember.

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<v Speaker 1>This is the early nineteenth century, so it's not like,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, there were plays and he can just jump on.

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<v Speaker 2>No, this story happens.

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<v Speaker 1>He's in the Arctic, like, oh, of course, eight l's

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<v Speaker 1>He's in the Arctic, He's in Morocco, he's in Nova Scotia.

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<v Speaker 2>This is this is truly.

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<v Speaker 1>An international story that I think is so good.

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<v Speaker 2>You literally should take the these eight.

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<v Speaker 1>Episodes, put together a curriculum and just taking the schools

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<v Speaker 1>and just show it the kids.

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<v Speaker 2>Because by the eighth episode at the end, I was

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<v Speaker 2>like that what's happening.

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<v Speaker 1>It is deeply emotional. I thought Washington Black was brilliant.

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<v Speaker 1>Washington Black is so brilliant, shan, Ain't you ready. The

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<v Speaker 1>first four episodes I watched it, I said, I'm gonna

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<v Speaker 1>give it.

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<v Speaker 2>A B plus.

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<v Speaker 1>By the time I got to the end of the

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<v Speaker 1>eighth episode, the B plus got bumped up to an A.

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<v Speaker 1>I was like, Wow, Washington Black, which is on Hulu

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<v Speaker 1>right now, is frigging amazing.

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<v Speaker 2>Executive produced by Shirt I mean Sterling K. Brown.

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<v Speaker 1>There are and then you can go go to the

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<v Speaker 1>film Gordon and just read the review. That's all I'll

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<v Speaker 1>tell you. Because I poured some stuff into this review

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<v Speaker 1>because I was feeling this show and I just kept

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<v Speaker 1>on writing and couldn't stop writing. I was like, some

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<v Speaker 1>more because there's now let me also say because one

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<v Speaker 1>of the things, and there was one thing I had

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<v Speaker 1>to add after the end, there's a there's a backstory

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<v Speaker 1>for Sterling K.

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<v Speaker 2>Brown's character that's in here.

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<v Speaker 1>That is deeply touching. It is deeply touching and and

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<v Speaker 1>and I'm not gonna spoil it. Just watch the mini

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<v Speaker 1>series when you get to that. Remember I told you

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<v Speaker 1>how deeply touching that that whole thing is and there

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<v Speaker 1>are so many great moments of people who are kind. Dude,

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<v Speaker 1>just don't have to be kind, who just kind to

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<v Speaker 1>this kid. I don't know what it was about this character,

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<v Speaker 1>but people just wanted to help this guy out because

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<v Speaker 1>they kept looking at him, going, you know, he's the one,

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<v Speaker 1>he's like neo, he can be somebody. So it is

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<v Speaker 1>a very interesting mini series and for us, since we

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<v Speaker 1>also run the Black Real Awards for Television, this will

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<v Speaker 1>not last time you hear about Washington Black.

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<v Speaker 2>I got a feeling that when.

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<v Speaker 1>Nominations come for next year's Black Real Awards for Television,

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<v Speaker 1>Washington Black is gonna.

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<v Speaker 2>Be in the mix.

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<v Speaker 3>That's a good if they don't forget Ernest Kingsley Junior.

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<v Speaker 1>Yes, he was absolutely amazing man, and he was the

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<v Speaker 1>young I'm sorry that was the older version of Washington Black.

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<v Speaker 1>The younger version is played by Eddie Karanja.

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<v Speaker 3>So yeah, really funny because you hear stories like in

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<v Speaker 3>the hood where you got a football player, basketball player,

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<v Speaker 3>and everybody protects him, make sure he makes it out.

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<v Speaker 2>And becomes good.

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<v Speaker 3>That was our generation. Yes, that's our generation. But to

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<v Speaker 3>see this happening in the early nineteen no, this is

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<v Speaker 3>the early eighteen hundred. Oh it's eighteen eighteen twenty something

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<v Speaker 3>like that.

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<v Speaker 2>Wow, I gotta see this. Yeah.

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<v Speaker 1>So, so Washington Black Man is on Hulu right now.

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<v Speaker 1>Once you finished listening to this and you turn this

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<v Speaker 1>podcast off, just go and check it out.

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<v Speaker 2>I promise you grabbed the family.

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<v Speaker 1>Matter of fact, I grabbed mine last night and I

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<v Speaker 1>think we got through the first two episodes, so we

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<v Speaker 1>still got six that we need to go through. So

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<v Speaker 1>that is Washington black So any questions on