Underground Recap: Harriet Tubman Stands At the Center Of ‘Minty’

As a guide, warrior and no-nonsense champion, Aisha Hinds’ Harriet Tubman has been a visceral force during this season of Underground. Teaching Rosalee how to move cargo undetected and working with Georgia and Elizabeth’s abolitionist sewing circle, “the most notorious runaway" has integrated herself among all aspects of the cause and in “Minty,” we finally get the full view of her life and backstory. In an unprecedented move on television, Underground chose to put the spotlight on one character to drive the entire episode, and Hinds’ performance was exhilarating and masterful to watch. In a 19th century “TED Talk” of sorts, the audience meets the woman behind the legend as she paints an intricate tapestry of her childhood and how she became General Tubman. Born Araminta Ross around 1820, Tubman discusses the sisters that were sold away from her, and the horrendous abuse that she suffered as a child after bring hired out by her master to different estates. Even as a young girl, though she was often sickly, Harriet had a rebellious streak. She was mischievous and would use small acts of defiance to assert herself despite the conditions of her bondage. For Harriet Tubman, Harriet Beacher Stowe’s 1852 novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin didn’t even scratch the surface of the horrors of slavery.

For Harriet, it was not just about abolitionists knowing her story; it was about them contemplating and fully understanding the violence of the institution of slavery and bondage itself. Despite her spunk and acts of resistance, Tubman came to realize that there could be no triumphs under slavery. Bolstered by rumors of her own sale to another plantation, Harriet decided to run for her freedom. However, as we learn in “Minty,” her actual journey to freedom did not begin the very first time she tried to run with her brothers. Though she only got a mile away from her plantation that first time, it sparked an inferno in Harriet that could not be doused. After befriending a white abolitionist, Harriet embarked on the journey that would lead to her tenuous freedom.

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Review: 'Fatherless' Is One Man's Humorous & Honest Quest To Find His Father And Eviscerate Statistics

For decades, the Black community has been beaten over the head with statistics and reports surrounding the absence of Black fathers within the community. There have been dissertations and investigations about the impact that single-parent households have on Black people as a whole. However, these statistics often seem to ignore the entire picture. In fact, when stacked up against white America, these numbers are nearly even. 33% of Black fathers live with at least one of their kids in comparison to 36% of white fathers. Also, though 70% of Black babies are born to unmarried mothers as opposed to 35% of white babies, only 50% of long-term couples in the United States are actually legally married. Paperwork or lack thereof does not necessarily negate fatherhood. In his heartfelt and often humorous documentary, “Fatherless,” “Grace and Frankie” actor and comedian Baron Vaughn, explores his own life without his biological father as he goes on a quest in search for the man he’s never met. Raised by his mother, grandmother and maternal great- grandparents, Baron grew up in the 1980’s at a time when Blackness in America, particularly in the midst of the crack cocaine epidemic and the war on drugs was under attack. Baron recalls idolizing comedians, Richard Pryor, Robert Townsend, Eddie Murphy, the Wayans, and Bill Cosby, who all became theoretical father figures to him. And yet, it was his great-grandfather, Poppa Richard, a towering Baptist deacon who raised him during his early youth, that made the most formidable impression on him. A man who built his home with his bare hands, Baron recalls worshiping his great-grandfather and clinging on to him and the church community that welcomed him with open arms.

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