Casting her as Harriet Tubman meant something, even without a special episode dedicated to her.
And what an episode this is.
The screen may say, Guest starring Aisha Hinds, but thats semantics.
Credit: WGN America
This is her episode.
She owns it, and theres no other way to put it.
Which is where Aisha Hinds comes in.
But once shes there, we are off to the races and on to a weighty episode.
The first thing I knew was to be afraid of the white man.
To be terrified of them carrying me away.
She speaks of growing up like a neglected weed that was ignorant of liberty.
But she was a defiant little weed, thinking that any small victory was akin to actual freedom.
And I took pride in that.
Knowing they aint own me, in spirit.
And maybe thats how I ought to have ended up, finding freedom on the edges.
At the time, she was fussing with her hair, so she didnt see it coming.
After that, her spells started.
In my spells, my spirit would go traveling.
Flying to distant lands.
Thats when Harriet realized her fits of defiance werent doing anything, and she set out to change that.
There aint no negotiations on freedom.
I was spending all my time knowing things instead of believing them.
And thats the first step to truly being free.
When you might see past all the things that you know and believe in something better.
It aint easy, but thats the work that must be done.
I was finally on my way to being what everybody accused me of.
I was ready to be a rebel.
Funny thing is, just because you believe something, doesnt mean anybody else ready to.
Harriet was already a proactive woman, but at that point, she had something to focus on.
Harriet prayed from Christmas to March that God change the mans heart to keep him from selling her.
Barely a week passed before the man died.
(That story of course gets a lot of oohs from the crowd.)
Here, Harriet learned another lesson: God wasnt just speaking to her; he was listening, too.
And she aimed to escape.
So she decided to go it alone.
Obviously she did so, though some places were more difficult to get through than others.
I knew He wouldnt lead me astray.
And then finally, I crossed the line.
I was in Pennsylvania.
I looked at my hands.
See if I was the same person.
There was such a glory over everything…
But there was no one to welcome me to the land of freedom.
I was a stranger in a strange land.
The tears in her eyes at this moment add to the power of Harriets words.
She knew she needed to go back.
By the time she did, though, the Fugitive Slave Act was in full effect.
But the most important thing was I had a purpose.
To get my kin out of bondage.
Aint nothing cant be endured when you got a purpose.
He didnt want to be free with Harriet.
But the Lord had a reason for that betrayal.
He was trying to show me something: that I was thinking too small.
(And as she mentioned to Rosalee before, she did get to free her parents.)
And when youre with Harriet on the trail, theres no turning back.
Theres no more flying in these just her feet planted firmly on the ground in the wilderness.
She sees a serpent transform into an old man with a long white beard.
Two more heads (with the faces of younger men) pop out of his body.
She later realizes who he is when he comes to see her: Hes John Brown.
Of a race that was not his own.
He aint know the crippling grip of slavery.
Everything that confused me about him built my admiration for him, Harriet says.
That aint my Christianity!
Calling it Gods will?
That aint my God!
And then theyre fighting among themselves about the best way to be abolitionists without ever actually abolishing anything.
Yeah, winning this war is tough, she says.
And then its time for the big finish.
And you gotta walk in it with conviction.
He will provide but youve gotta do your part.
You gotta find what it means for you to be a soldier.
We cant afford to be just citizens in a time of war.
Thatd be giving up our future and our souls.
Aint nobody get to sit this one out, you hear me?
That would be Harriet Tubman, aka Little Minty.
Thank you,Underground, for an episode of television that hopefully wont soon be forgotten.
