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Kidnapped in Africa and subsequently enslaved in South Carolina, Aminata must navigate a revolution in New York, isolation in Nova Scotia, and the treacherous jungles of Sierra Leone, in an attempt to secure her freedom in the eighteenth century.
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Beauty fades. Strength, you'll keep forever.
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Trivia
Based on the name of the book, that really existed, that had the names of Negroes who served the British during the Civil War, then freed and sent to Nova Scotia to live. Publishers changed the name of the book from "Book of Negroes" to "Someone Knows My Name" because the term "Negro" has become a derogatory term to many people in the U.S., and sellers were hesitant to sell a book with that word in the title.
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Based on a bit of true history and a fictionalized book of the same name, this mini-series yields an aspect of the African slave story that I'd not known about before. Set in the late colonial / post-Revolutionary era, the story fills in some gaps left by Alex Haley's Roots chronicle.
No doubt legitimate criticism could be made of the film regarding its perhaps overly romanticized version of real life for African slaves in the colonies, and the multiple, implausible transatlantic voyages of the main character, and the surprise ending. If you can look past those flaws, the movie holds interest and the principal actors give engaging performances.
Two actual copies of the real Book of Negroes exist -- one in the National Archives in London, the other in National Archives in Washington DC.