So it looks like Amazon Prime is doing another alternate-history show, this time from creator of popular Adult Swim show THE BOONDOCKS Aaron McGruder and producer Will Packer (STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON) called BLACK AMERICA. Here's the synopsis, according to Deadline:
[BLACK AMERICA] 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. The sovereign nation they formed, New Colonia, has had a tumultuous and sometimes violent relationship with its looming “Big Neighbor,” both ally and foe, the United States. The past 150 years have been witness to military incursions, assassinations, regime change, coups, etc. Today, after two decades of peace with the U.S. and unprecedented growth, an ascendant New Colonia joins the ranks of major industrialized nations on the world stage as America slides into rapid decline. Inexorably tied together, the fate of two nations, indivisible, hangs in the balance.
Not going to lie, that sounds pretty cool. And, honestly, more interesting than the upcoming HBO series CONFEDERACY – where the Southern Confederacy and slavery exist in modern times – for sure (though I'm a sucker for alternate-history stuff, so I'll probably check out both). At the very least, they'll be an interesting contrast to each other.
In fact, BLACK AMERICA was in development before CONFEDERACY, and that show's announcement prompted the creators to reveal their own unique premise. Here's what Packer said about the comparisons:
The fact that there is the contemplation of contemporary slavery makes it something that I would not be a part of producing nor consuming…Slavery is far too real and far too painful, and we still see the manifestations of it today as a country for me to ever view that as a form of entertainment.
He went on to say:
[The show asks] what if reparations were given, what would this country and that alternate country look like today, how would Americans look, our communities, relations? I think that there definitely is a message about how we co-exist today where that didn’t happen, there weren’t reparations, and you still have black Americans who are suffering from the effects of slavery in various ways…You still have the prison-industrial complex that disproportionately imprisons black and brown people, you can trace that back for many reasons to slavery. [BLACK AMERICA] will speak to where we are now and the mistakes this country has made and things we should do going forward.
I’m definitely curious how this turns out. I loved THE BOONDOCKS cartoon and comic strip, so I’d give it a shot for that reason alone.
Meanwhile, the show is still in early development, but we'll keep you posted with any new developments.