Five Years Ago, Audiences Stood Up to Applaud Harriet

Released on November 1, 2019, Kasi Lemmons’ Harriet provides an enduring portrait of a legendary freedom fighter. The Guardian wrote, “History, heroism, and leadership are the stuff of Kasi Lemmons’ rousing and heartfelt film about the life and times of Harriet Tubman, the Spartacus of the American South.” Born into slavery, Tubman (Cynthia Erivo) escaped to freedom but chose to return, placing herself in harm’s way to lead others to freedom via the Underground Railroad. Lemmons told The Atlantic. “It’s really about freedom and what you’re willing to do for it—not just for you, but for others.” Erivo sounded that point loud and clear, not just in her performance but also in the song, “Stand Up,” which she co-wrote and performed.

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The film began 26 years before its production when a young screenwriter, Gregory Allen Howard, had an ingenious idea. “I wanted to turn Harriet Tubman's life, which I’d studied in college, into an action-adventure movie.” As The New York Times writes, “Tubman’s remarkable biography has all the right elements: danger, surprise and the kind of against-all-odds heroism that brings people to the movies.” After more than two and half decades, the stars aligned when the producers found the right director, star, and approach to bring all these elements to the big screen in a powerful, new way.

The Guardian writes, “Lemmons’ achievement is to tell a story that does not accept slavery as a tragic and immutable fact, and to dramatize the people who took action against it.” Indeed, both Lemmons and Erivo wanted to emphasize the power and freedom at the heart of Tubman’s legacy. Lemmons told NPR that she wanted to create a story of Tubman that did not “rob her of either her womanhood or her superheroism, because we need our black women superheroes.” In discovering her character, Erivo told The New York Times, “We need a story of strength. We need a story where a woman in the center is changing things for the better.”

The film garnered two Academy Award® nominations: Best Actress for Erivo and Best Original Song for Erivo and Joshuah Brian Campbell for “Stand Up.” Erivo collaborated with composer Joshuah Brian Campbell to write the song, an anthem to Tubman’s spirit. Her video for the song was equally acclaimed. Rolling Stone wrote, “Erivo channels the power of the song and Tubman’s story as she guides “Stand Up” to its potent peak, a tear emerging on her cheek as she builds to a belt.” Erivo told Billboard, “The song, for me, is a thank you to Harriet – an expression of hope, strength, and inspiration to do good for one another. It was very special for me to write a song that could share a bit of her story.”