Entertainment feature film producer Will Packerย is on a roll. In the wake of news of HBOโs controversial show drama series, โConfederate,โ from the producers of โGame of Thrones,โ in a new alternative history series in the works at Amazon, the creative genius explores the premise of slavery being legal in modern times, in his new project, titled โBlack Americaโ which has been in the making for over a year and portrays a reality where southern states have left the Union but takes a very different approach.
For โBlack Americaโ Packer, (โGirls Tripโ, โRide Along,โ and โThink Like A Manโ franchises) joins with Peabody award-winner Aaron McGruder (โThe Boondocks,โ โBlack Jesusโ) as the series 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 โBig Neighbor,โ 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.
In a report on Deadline, ย Packer states that “Black America”ย creates the kind of utopia that has been on the minds of generations of black Americans for whom the series may have a sense of wish-fulfillment. As for the tone of the hourlong series, itโs โa drama, but it wouldnโt be Aaron McGruder without traces of his trademark sardonicย wit.โ
Packer also states in the article:
โIt was something that was personally intriguing for me as a black American,โ Packer said. โYou would be hard pressed to find many black Americans who have not thought about the concept of reparation, what would happen if reparations were actually given. As a content creator, the fact that that is something that has been discussed thoroughly throughout various demographics of people in this country but yet never been explored to my knowledge in any real way in long-form content, I thought it was a tremendous opportunity to delve into the story, to do it right.โ Packer said that it is early to talk about Black Americaโs message since the series is still being developed. But by answering the questions โwhat if reparations were given, what would this country and that alternate country look like today, how would Americans look, our communities, relations,ย I think that there definitely is a message about how we co-exist today where that didnโt happen, there werenโt reparations, and you still have black Americans who are suffering from the effects of slavery in various ways,โ Packer said. โYou still have the prison-industrial complex that disproportionally imprisons black and brown people, you can trace that back for many reasons to slavery.โ
Ultimately, Black America โwill speak to where we are now and the mistakes this country has made and things we should do going forward,โ Packer said.
(Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images for 2017 ESSENCE Festival )