*Tyler Perry’s upcoming film “The Six Triple Eight” is set to shine a light on a little-known group of women, who are now getting their just do.
For Big Sean, the Netflix original production is just as personal to him as the historical significance of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, the collective at the center of the movie. The rapper, who attended the recent premiere of “The Six Triple Eight” in Los Angeles revealed that Charity Adams, the unit’s commanding officer portrayed by Kerry Washington, is his grandmother.
Chatting with The Hollywood Reporter, the rhyme-sayer expressed how grateful he is to Perry for bringing his relative story and the journey of the only U.S. Women’s Army Corps unit of color to the masses as the writer and director of “The Six Triple Eight.”
“I told Tyler Perry how thankful I was because it’s such an overlooked crucial piece of American history and Black history,” Big Sean told The Hollywood Reporter while walking the red carpet with his mother. The pair made a point of bringing Adams to the event via the framed pictures they held of his grandmother. “The 6888 battalion connected millions and millions with over 17 million pieces of mail where there was no other means of communication to families and information about loved ones. They were fighting their own war being strong Black women during segregation and fighting for their country.
“I’m just proud of them,” Big Sean added, “not just my grandmother, proud of all of them. I’m happy to be raised by such strong Black women who are embedded in my DNA and I’m forever grateful for it. It’s a super emotional night.”
.@BigSean shares with THR his personal connection to the 6888th battalion as seen in Tyler Perry’s #TheSixTripleEight:
“I’m proud of them, not just my grandmother…I was so happy to be raised by such strong Black women that are embedded in my DNA” pic.twitter.com/84fm24N6pf
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) December 4, 2024
Nicknamed the “Six Triple Eight,” the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion was a predominantly black unit of 855 female soldiers.
Three Latinas were among the members of the 6888th, in addition to enlisted soldiers and officers. The battalion is noted for serving during World War II in various roles such as postal clerks, cooks, mechanics and other support positions. Its motto was “No mail, low morale.”
In addition to Washington, “The Six Triple Eight” will star Ebony Obsidian as Lena Derriecott King, a member of the battalion.
The “Sistas” fixture met King on her 100th birthday on Jan. 27, 2023. Just shy of her 101st birthday, King passed away on Jan. 18, 2024.
“She was a lady,” Obsidian told THR about King. “She was poised and in her wisdom and at her age, she was eloquent and she was sharp. She was not what we would think when we think about that age, but it speaks a lot about how much she’s seen, how much she’s endured, and how much she still had to share with the world. This film is just that. It’s for her.”
Washington’s involvement in “The Six Triple Eight” was a long time coming after she dressed up as King for her Black History Month social media series “Black Her Story” before knowing a film version of the 6888th’s story was in the works.
Once she saw a sizzle reel Perry sent, her inclusion was a no-brainer.
“I was like, ‘Oh my God, I know about these women, I want to do this movie,’” the former “Scandal” star said of her reaction to the clip. “To play Charity Adams is just the privilege of a lifetime so I’m really, really grateful that Tyler even thought of me for this role, that he reached out to me, and that he trusted me with her legacy. I feel really, really honored. And then to be a part of it as an executive producer and be able to be supportive in other ways and bring some of those other muscles to the task was really great.”
“The Six Triple Eight” is set to premiere on Netflix on Dec. 20.
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