Why I'm seeing Harriet opening weekend and I hope you do too

While black women have contributed so much to the fabric of this nation, it's not well documented in our history books. Unfortunately, it's still a sad state of affairs. When I look back to my public school education, Harriet Tubman was one of the few black women that received attention. There were a few others, but not many I can recall where the books had a good length of detail about their contributions. I remember Rosa Parks because she was labeled the woman who started the Civil Rights Movement and Madame C.J. Walker, the first woman black millionaire. 

All three women are iconic in their own right, but I sit in awe of Ms. Tubman's work as an abolitionist and what she accomplished as a freedom fighter. Once she obtained her own freedom she could have stopped. She didn't. Instead, she carried out some 13 missions to rescue approximately 70 enslaved people, including family and friends, using the network of antislavery activists and safe houses known as the Underground Railroad. A selfless, determined woman willing to pay the ultimate price for freedom. An amazing life. An amazing story. A hero before the world would recognize her as such.

106 years after her death, Hollywood is finally telling her story. I can't wait. Harriet, the biopic film hits national theaters on November 1, 2019. Kasi Lemmons, a black woman who wrote and directed Eve's Bayou, directs this film. It wasn’t easy to get a film like this made or have the film directed by a black woman. Both are huge achievements and why I'm going to see it this opening weekend. Please go see it.

Harriet Tubman getting her due is a long time coming. I remember the excitement I felt when the Obama administration said she would be the new face of the 20 dollar bill. Our nation was finally going to acknowledge a woman of color in a significant way. We were getting ready to sunset having Andrew Jackson, a racist president as the face of this money. Disappointment quickly set in when I saw news headlines that the Trump administration was no longer moving forward with the production until 2026. Their pathetic excuse was so-called redesigns that weren't finalized. Although I wasn't surprised by the move it didn't stop my disappointment from morphing into anger and frustration. Here we go again. The United States fails to live up to its ideals. One step forward, two steps back. Some will argue it's not a big deal, but that's easy to say when you are not part of a group marred by institutional racism and its many faces.

The film is not only a tribute to Harriet Tubman's life, it illustrates the power of storytelling and that black stories matter, especially as they are often not in the history books. We must keep telling them. Large or small, fight to get them published and then fight some more to get them onto big and small screens. The struggle never ends.

And yes, I have to wait a few more years to see Harriet Tubman on a 20 dollar bill but seeing this film will be my consolation prize.