TNT, TBS, AND TRUTV AIRING ‘BLACK PANTHER’, ‘JUST MERCY’ SPECIAL COMBO EVENT TO PROMOTE SOCIAL JUSTICE
The last day of the show, I got a call do another special for TNT, TBS and Tru TV celebrating Juneteenth. Of course I said yes. It airs tonight:
In an affort to continue dialog on social justice, WarnerMedia’s TNT, TBS, and truTV June 19 are partnering for a special one-night-only on-air broadcast of critically acclaimed movies, Disney/Marvel Studios’ Black Panther and Warner Bros. Pictures’ Just Mercy, along with reflections from distinguished guests about the personal impact these films had on their lives and the culture.
With limited commercial interruption, Black Panther, which won three Oscars in 2019, will air at 7pm ET/PT, followed by Just Mercy.
Host Anthony Anderson (“Black-ish”) will be joined by guests, including Bryan Stevenson of the Equal Justice Initiative (whom Just Mercy is based on), Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) and CNN’s W. Kamau Bell. Additionally, Andra Day will perform her Grammy-nominated song “Rise Up.”
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Reginald Hudlin, who wrote for the “Black Panther” graphic novel series, serves as executive producer of the special content, along with executive producer Phil Gurin and co-executive producer Byron Phillips.
In Black Panther, T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) returns home to the hidden high-tech African nation of Wakanda to succeed to the throne and take his rightful place as king, following the death of his father. But when a man named Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan) appears, T’Challa’s mettle as king—and Black Panther—is tested when he’s drawn into a formidable conflict that puts the fate of Wakanda and the entire world at risk. Pitted against his own family, the king must rally his allies and release the full power of Black Panther to defeat his foes and embrace his future as an Avenger.
Just Mercy is based on the thought-provoking true story of young lawyer Bryan Stevenson (Jordan) and his history-making battle for justice. After graduating from Harvard, Bryan had his pick of lucrative jobs. Instead, he heads to Alabama to defend those wrongly condemned or who were not afforded proper representation, with the support of local advocate Eva Ansley (Brie Larson). One of his first, and most incendiary, cases is that of Walter McMillian (Jamie Foxx), who, in 1987, was sentenced to die for the notorious murder of an 18-year-old girl, despite a preponderance of evidence proving his innocence and the fact that the main testimony against him came from a criminal with a motive to lie. In the years that follow, Bryan becomes embroiled in a labyrinth of legal and political maneuverings, as well as overt and unabashed racism as he fights for Walter, and others like him, with the odds—and the system—stacked against them.
And I did a short piece for BET talking about what I love about blackness.