I apologize to all the Underground fans for skipping the past few recaps but I’m back and this week’s episode is a perfect time to return.
Season 2, Episode 6 is titled “Minty” and is an hour long tribute to Harriet Tubman.
Tubman, portrayed by Aiesha Hinds, reflects on a life with conviction, compassion, and courage.
In case you missed it, watch full episode below…
VIDEO: Underground Season 2, Episode 6
The entire episode was devoted to Harriet Tubman’s story with limited commercial interruptions and Hinds performance was riveting to say the least.
Tubman shares with the abolitionists the horrors of her experience of being a slave as she states “slavery is the next thing to hell” and along with her words, the freedom fighter paints a true picture of what what being enslaved does to one’s spirit.
?I was the most rebellious thing. Mischievous too. And I took pride in that. Knowing they ain?t own me, in spirit. And maybe that?s how I ought to have ended up, finding freedom on the edges.?
But then a white man threw a heavy iron weight at his rebellious slave and ended up hitting Harriet in the head with it. At the time, she was fussing with her hair, so she didn?t see it coming. After that, her ?spells? started.
?In my spells, my spirit would go traveling. Flying to distant lands. And I heard a voice of someone speaking in the language of the old prophets?? That someone, she says, was God, ?showing [her] what was possible.?
?Funny thing is, just because you believe something, doesn?t mean anybody else ready to.?
Hinds, a 41-year-old veteran of stage, screen, and film recently shared her thoughts about episode and how she felt Tubman?s spirit move through her. In an interview with VULTURE, Hinds states:
I get excited about the fact that I am the chosen vessel to bring this wealth of education to a new generation. I was a troubled teenager until somebody guided me in the right direction, so it?s important for me to know where I?m positioned in the world and what I?m doing here, and how that can impact troubled teens. That?s just a fraction of the audience I?m considering, but I?m thinking about those girls who are in the position I was, and if I could have looked on screen and seen someone who looked like me and walked like me and talked like me, telling the story of someone I don?t have much context for? that was the riveting thing.
I have shied away from watching the episode because I don?t want to step out of the moment we had yet. I don?t want to move into the place you?re talking about. I know it?s human, it?s inevitable. I work in this industry. I?m acutely aware of the conversations surrounding this level of work, but I also want to hold onto what was precious. (source)
I think Aiesha Hinds did an outstanding job in her portrayal of Harriet Tubman and just for the record, I will pick up on the usual Underground recaps next week.