*Soon after the first trailer dropped for the Harriet Tubman biopic, many within the Black Twitterverse made clear that they’re not feeling the casting of the lead actress in the film.
Tubman, an abolitionist who freed hundreds of slaves, is being portrayed by Nigerian-born British actress Cynthia Erivo, who has been accused of having an elitist attitude toward Black Americans.
Filmmaker Tariq Nasheed noted that Erivo has often co-signed “a lot of anti-Black American vitriol that is spewed by her fellow Nigerian, Luvvie,” the blogger behind awesomelyluvvie.com.
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Here is a twitter thread I made last year about Cynthia Erivo being cast as Harriet Tubman https://t.co/CaZ664bRgC
— Tariq Nasheed ?? (@tariqnasheed) July 23, 2019
“Nigerian actress Cynthia EriVo playing Harriet Tubman is a no for me dog. Cynthia has a history of showing disrespect to Foundational Black Americans. She has tweets spewing and cosigning anti-ADOS rhetoric. She cosigns her best friend Luvie using the term akata towards FBAs,” Nasheed wrote on Twitter.
“Even in this film trailer, Cynthia does not have the SPIRIT of Harriet Tubman and this is why its important to cast people who come from a Foundational Black American lineage to play the role of Foundational Black American heroes like Tubman,” he added. Hear what else he had to say about Erivo as Tubman in the clip above.
Even in this film trailer, Cynthia does not have the SPIRIT of Harriet Tubman and this is why its important to cast people who come from a Foundational Black American lineage to play the role of Foundational Black American heroes like Tubman
— Tariq Nasheed ?? (@tariqnasheed) July 23, 2019
Many have expressed on social media that Erivo should not portray Tubman because she is not a Black American. Several users are slamming the casting via the hashtag, #HarrietDeservesBetter. Some have even called for a boycott, RollingOut reports.
“I won’t be watching. You should have cast an American descendant of slavery. Not a black Brit,” posted by Twitter user @SamanthaAngeliq.
“We will not allow the hype of a prestige film to compromise our sacred ancestor Harriet’s legacy,” posted by Twitter user @BoPeep.
And Twitter user @Nasescobar316 posted, “Yea, I ain’t watching this either. We are tired of our American roles going to people who don’t have the same lineage of the characters they are portraying. It’s like a dog playing the role of a cat.”
Nigerian actress Cynthia EriVo playing Harriet Tubman is a no for me dog. Cynthia has a history of showing disrespect to Foundational Black Americans. She has tweets spewing and cosigning anti-ADOS rhetoric. She cosigns her best friend Luvie using the term akata towards FBAs pic.twitter.com/1FKf41NlfC
— Tariq Nasheed ?? (@tariqnasheed) July 23, 2019
Erivo, meanwhile, thanked her supporters on social media. “I wish I could explain what this one comment means to me, tears are in my eyes,” she wrote. “I want so much to make you and the elders like your mom proud. I really do. Thank her for giving me a chance to. Thank you. You don’t know how you’ve lifted me today. Thank you.”
Along with Erivo, the film also features Janelle Monae and Leslie Odom Jr..
“Why do I have a feeling they are going to portray Harriet Tubman as LGBT in that new movie?,” Nasheed noted on Twitter.
“That was my first thought when I seen Janelle Monae. Smh,” one user replied.
Why do I have a feeling they are going to portray Harriet Tubman as LGBT in that new movie coming out this November?
— Tariq Nasheed ?? (@tariqnasheed) July 26, 2019
That was my first thought when I seen Janelle Monae. Smh pic.twitter.com/KIpyOL3ICk
— Piccolo the Moor?? (@PiccolotheMoor) July 26, 2019
Harriet Tubman was married. She had to shoot and kill her husband bc he was going to tell on her. He was like the regular Sambos of Today. Don’t know how the LGBT is going to Pull that Off…
— @TelemaqueDenVe (@Telemaque71) July 26, 2019
In related news, Viola Davis will play Harriet Tubman in an HBO movie based on the biography “Bound for the Promised Land: Harriet Tubman,” by historian Kate Clifford Larson. An air date for the untitled project has not been announced.
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