Arts and Culture

Review: Actor Cynthia Erivo Delivers in ‘Harriet,’ a Film That Provokes Controversy

Published

5 years ago

December 19, 2019

A woman of controversy even now, freedom fighter and liberator Harriet Tubman-Davis, as portrayed in this current iteration is stirring things up again. If a viewer is looking to see a story where white people are not cast as saviors and Africans as beasts, then this is not the film for you.

Clearly, there have to be bad white characters — it is, after all, the Antebellum South and Africans did not enslave themselves. However, this story tempers white folks with sentimental embellishment. If one can bracket the “Hollywood-ness” of this perpetuation of whiteness, then “Harriet” (2019) is the compelling story of a determined woman who is divinely guided.

The term liberation theology is seldom applied to the African people who actually epitomize this kind of thinking. Liberation theology is undoubtedly philosophically centered aboard those slave ships with the Yoruba, Fanti, Akan, Christians and Muslims. What other people sustained such a vision cross time and landscape for 400 years? It was a strategy that worked. Harriet is a descendent of that tradition.

The film “Harriet,” directed by Kasi Lemmons, who wrote the screenplay with Vallejo native Gregory Allen Howard, stars Nigerian British actor Cynthia Erivo as Araminta “Minty” Ross / Harriet Tubman, with Leslie Odom Jr. as William Still, abolitionist, and Janelle Monae as entrepreneur and free woman, Marie Buchanon.

In Erivo’s very capable hands Harriet is not just actualized, but embodied.

Marie and Harriet have many lovely scenes as the freeborn businesswoman, who has no personal knowledge of slavery, comes to both respect, admire and love Harriet as the two become confidantes. Clarke Peters gives a wise and compassionate portrayal of Ben Ross, Harriet’s father and Rit’s husband, as does Vondie Curtis-Hall who portrays Rev. Samuel Green, a secretly-abolitionist freedman, who gives Harriet important advice. All of this drama is set against a backdrop of Terence Blanchard’s score and John Toll’s lovely cinematography.

“Harriet” is a story of faith and it is also the story of a young African woman who is determined to free as many of her people as humanly possible. Early on, she learns that fear is her only enemy and when she learns this, she has no other problems — not her fainting spells from a head injury or the occasional setbacks incurred when she is moving through enemy territory with other Africans who initially challenge her leadership or want to turn back. The abolitionist is flexible and able to think on her feet. In one scene while she is unconscious, someone moves to touch her and another African stops the person and says Harriet is talking to God.

Though filmed in Virginia, “Harriet” is a mixed bag made in the studio. There is a lot of tension, surprise, pursuit and close calls that Erivo’s Harriet handles with dignity and fortitude. The film is not hard to sit through despite these tense moments, which could have been a lot worse as the violence toward Harriet is shown in a flashback and other brutality is minimized except one brutal scene. There is even a suggested love story between Harriet and her master’s son Gideon Brodess (Joe Alwyn). It’s all in his mind. Harriet doesn’t even entertain these ideas, but the setup is there.

Now known as Moses, Harriet is too busy rescuing her people and fighting a war, yet more importantly never forgetting where she has been and what she left behind. She tells those assembled in the North at a meeting where Frederick Douglass and other well-known abolitionists have gathered, that the Africans who were born free do not know what it is like to be enslaved and if they did, they would understand the urgency with which she operates.

What I like about this film is the compassion Harriet has for her sister, Rachel Ross, portrayed by Deborah Ayorinde, an actress who was born in London, yet grew up in San Jose. Harriet loves her family, her sister, mother and father and puts her life at risk caring so much for them.

Wanda Sabir

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Arts and Culture

BOOK REVIEW: Love, Rita: An American Story of Sisterhood, Joy, Loss, and Legacy

When Bridgett M. Davis was in college, her sister Rita was diagnosed with lupus, a disease of the immune system that often left her constantly tired and sore. Davis was a bit unfazed, but sympathetic to Rita’s suffering and also annoyed that the disease sometimes came between them. By that time, they needed one another more than ever.

Published

17 hours ago

April 28, 2025

Oakland Post

Love Rita Book Cover. Courtesy of Harper.

By Terri Schlichenmeyer

Author: Bridgett M. Davis, c.2025, Harper, $29.99, 367 Pages

Take care.

Do it because you want to stay well, upright, and away from illness. Eat right, swallow your vitamins and hydrate, keep good habits and hygiene, and cross your fingers. Take care as much as you can because, as in the new book, “Love, Rita” by Bridgett M. Davis, your well-being is sometimes out of your hands.

It was a family story told often: when Davis was born, her sister, Rita, then four years old, stormed up to her crying newborn sibling and said, ‘Shut your … mouth!’

Rita, says Davis, didn’t want a little sister then. She already had two big sisters and a neighbor who was somewhat of a “sister,” and this baby was an irritation. As Davis grew, the feeling was mutual, although she always knew that Rita loved her.

Over the years, the sisters tried many times not to fight — on their own and at the urging of their mother — and though division was ever present, it eased when Rita went to college. Davis was still in high school then, and she admired her big sister.

She eagerly devoured frequent letters sent to her in the mail, signed, “Love, Rita.”

When Davis was in college herself, Rita was diagnosed with lupus, a disease of the immune system that often left her constantly tired and sore. Davis was a bit unfazed, but sympathetic to Rita’s suffering and also annoyed that the disease sometimes came between them. By that time, they needed one another more than ever.

First, they lost their father. Drugs then invaded the family and addiction stole two siblings. A sister and a young nephew were murdered in a domestic violence incident. Their mother was devastated; Rita’s lupus was an “added weight of her sorrow.”

After their mother died of colon cancer, Rita’s lupus took a turn for the worse.

“Did she even stand a chance?” Davis wrote in her journal.

“It just didn’t seem possible that she, someone so full of life, could die.”

Let’s start here: once you get past the prologue in “Love, Rita,” you may lose interest. Maybe.

Most of the stories that author Bridgett M. Davis shares are mildly interesting, nothing rare, mostly commonplace tales of growing up in the 1960s and ’70s with a sibling. There are a lot of these kinds of stories, and they tend to generally melt together. After about fifty pages of them, you might start to think about putting the book aside.

But don’t. Not quite yet.

In between those everyday tales, Davis occasionally writes about being an ailing Black woman in America, the incorrect assumptions made by doctors, the history of medical treatment for Black people (women in particular), attitudes, and mythologies. Those passages are now and then, interspersed, but worth scanning for.

This book is perhaps best for anyone with the patience for a slow-paced memoir, or anyone who loves a Black woman who’s ill or might be ill someday. If that’s you and you can read between the lines, then “Love, Rita” is a book to take in carefully.

Oakland Post

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Activism

Faces Around the Bay: Author Karen Lewis Took the ‘Detour to Straight Street’

“My life has been a roller-coaster with an unlimited ride wristband! I was raised in Berkeley during the time of Ron Dellums, the Black Panthers, and People’s Park. I was a Hippie kid, my Auntie cut off all our hair so we could wear the natural styles like her and Angela Davis.

Published

17 hours ago

April 28, 2025

Oakland Post

Karen Lewis. Courtesy photo.

By Barbara Fluhrer

I met Karen Lewis on a park bench in Berkeley. She wrote her story on the spot.

I got married young, then ended up getting divorced, raising two boys into men. After my divorce, I had a stroke that left me blind and paralyzed. I was homeless, lost in a fog with blurred vision.

Jesus healed me! I now have two beautiful grandkids. At 61, this age and this stage, I am finally free indeed. Our Lord Jesus Christ saved my soul. I now know how to be still. I lay at his feet. I surrender and just rest. My life and every step on my path have already been ordered. So, I have learned in this life…it’s nice to be nice. No stressing, just blessings. Pray for the best and deal with the rest.

Nobody is perfect, so forgive quickly and love easily!”

Lewis’ book “Detour to Straight Street” is available on Amazon.

Oakland Post

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Activism

Golden State Warriors Program Is Inspiring Next Generation of Female Engineers

Breaking down barriers and biases that deter young girls from pursuing STEAM subjects is essential for creating a level playing field and ensuring equal opportunities for all. By challenging stereotypes and promoting a culture of inclusivity and diversity in STEAM fields, experts believe young girls can be empowered to pursue their interests and aspirations without limitations confidently. Encouraging mentorship, providing access to resources, and celebrating girls’ achievements in STEAM are all crucial steps in creating a supportive environment that fosters success.

Published

1 month ago

March 23, 2025

Oakland Post

Front Row: UC Berkeley Steel Bridge Team Back Row: Girls, Inc. Participants. Photo courtesy of the Golden State Warriors.

By Y’Anad Burrell

The Golden State Warriors and e-commerce giant Rakuten are joining forces to inspire the next generation of female engineers through Building STEAM Futures, part of The City Calls campaign.

Organizers say the initiative is founded on the idea that science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) are crucial fields for innovation and progress, and empowering young girls to pursue careers in these areas is more important than ever. Studies consistently show that girls are underrepresented in STEAM fields, resulting in a gender disparity that limits potential and hinders diversity.

On Saturday, March 8, International Women’s Day, the Warriors and Rakuten hosted 20 middle school girls from Girls Inc. of Alameda County at Chase Center’s Above the Rim for a hands-on bridge-building experience. The young girls from Girls, Inc. of Alameda County had an opportunity to design, build and test their own bridge prototypes and learn the fundamentals of bridge construction from the Engineering Alliance and the UC Berkeley Steel Bridge Team.

This STEAM experience for the girls followed the first session in January, where they took a behind-the-scenes tour of the Golden Gate Bridge, learning about its design and construction from industry experts. The City Calls campaign, tipped off with the unveiling the Warriors’ new bridge-themed City Edition jerseys and court design earlier this year.