Legendary American political activist, academic, author and Black Panther member, Angela Davis is getting her own biopic. And perhaps it’s a step in the right direction that another black woman has been tasked with bringing her story to life. Nigerian-American writer, Kay Oyegun (This Is us, Queen Sugar), will pen the script, with Forest Whitaker as executive producer.
Others confirmed members of the production team include Nina Yang Bongiovi, producer of Dope and Fruitvale Station, Sidra Smith and Codeblack CEO Jeff Clanagan are also producing. Angela Davis herself will be involved in the film’s making, serving as an executive producer along with her niece Eisa Davis, who is also penning the script.
It is not yet clear who will be portraying Angela Davis, and folks are interested, especially given the poor performance of Hollywood with biopics; you know like in Nina Simone biopic, where a light-skinned actress (Zoe Saladana) was cast to play the very dark-skinned Nina Simone. So, naturally, folks in twitterville are talking about it.
Who is going to play thee Angela Davis? pic.twitter.com/mNkOSwbrN2
— Craneisha Nettles (@NolaCrae) August 3, 2017
I vote @solangeknowles to play Angela Davis!
— ?PeachMagnolia? (@FairLady0806) August 5, 2017
Halle Berry has expressed her desire to play Angela Davis but I don’t see it happening
— Vanessa Belle (@cvhporter) August 4, 2017
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