Following on from HBO’s controversial announcement of the new series Confederate from Game of Thrones supremos David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, Amazon has now revealed that it is in development on its own alternate history project tackling the subject of slavery in the United States.
According to Deadline, the streaming service is developing Black America from Will Packer (Think Like a Man, Straight Outta Compton) and Aaron McGruder (The Boondocks, Black Jesus), which “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.”
“It felt this was the appropriate time to make sure that audiences and the creative community knew that there was a project that preexisted and we are pretty far down the road with it,” said Packer, revealing that the decision was made to reveal details of the project in the wake of the Confederate announcement. ““I was immediately enthralled by the idea; I couldn’t stop thinking about it and what a provocative and bold piece of content it could be. Being a fan of Aaron, I thought he definitely had the right tone, the right voice, the right wit to handle a project like this. Aaron and I sat together and talked about what a huge opportunity and responsibility it would be to do this project and do it right.”
Packer went on to reveal that Black America is in “very, very active development”, so hopefully we’ll get more information soon.
Originally published August 4, 2017. Updated April 16, 2018.
