The six-part series, “Amend: The Fight for America”, is being heralded as “a powerful multimedia journey through American history that encourages viewers to question what the ‘United States’ really means”.
Netflix is ready to handle the 14th Amendment with the help of Will Smith.
On February 17, the streaming service will debut a series of six-part documents entitled Amendment: The struggle for America, that tells the Suicide squad star as producer and presenter. The hour-long episodes will explore the amendment, which in 1868 promised “equal freedom and protection for all people”.
The series, which also counts ex Night show star Larry Wilmore as executive producer, features a rotation of recognizable faces, including Mahershala Ali, Diane Lane, Samuel L. Jackson, Pedro Pascal and Yara Shahidi. This group will make speeches and writings of the most fervent defenders and enemies of the Amendment (think of Frederick Douglass, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Ruth Bader Ginsburg). Also mixed in: insights from a range of contemporary experts and thought leaders. Amend it is being heralded as “a powerful multimedia journey through American history that encourages viewers to question what the ‘United States’ really means”.
“We are living unprecedented days as a society, as a country and as a human family. I believe that cultivating personal and historical understanding is the imperative spark igniting the flames of compassion and desperately needed healing, “said Smith in a statement announcing the news on Monday.” As Americans, we strive to form a more perfect union that truly establishes justice and equality for all. I believe that a deeper understanding of the 14th Amendment is a critical starting point. Our hope with this series is to illuminate the beauty that is America’s promise and to share a message of connection and shared humanity so that we can better understand and celebrate our different experiences as Americans and promote progress toward the true equality promised to all people. under the 14th amendment. I am grateful to Netflix and the phenomenal group of people who gathered in front and behind the cameras to help us tell this story. “
This group includes creators Robe Imbriano and Tom Yellin and directors Kenny Leon and Reinaldo Marcus Green, along with executive producers Terence Carter, Jana Babatunde-Bey, Jamal Watson, Jonna Mclaughlin and Angus Wall. Amend is a production of Westbrook Studios, The Documentary Group, Wilmore Films and MakeMake Entertainment.
“I hope that families can watch Amend together and make the series a compelling conversation starter, “said Wilmore.” Everything we’ve seen happening in America in recent years is about what blacks and other marginalized groups have always wanted to do: make sure we are really part of America and has everything promised to us by the Constitution. I think it would be really fantastic if Amend helped people better understand how special the bond can be between each of us and our country. “
Although Smith is always best known as the face of the pillars, he has started to immerse himself in political conversations in recent years. In fact, in 2015, he was so shocked by statements by then-presidential candidate Donald Trump that he allegedly thought about getting involved. “Looking at the political landscape, I think there may be a future out there for me,” he said THR at the time. “This is the first year that I get furious at a level where I can’t sleep, you know? So I’m feeling that at some point, in the near future, I’m going to have to lend my voice to the conversation in a slightly different way.”