Tuesday afternoon, Howard University students were treated to special screening of “Underground”, a new series that will premiere on Wednesday March9th, 10:00 PM ET/PT on WGN America.
The SGA at Howard University in Washington DC invited its student body to the Blackburn Auditorium to watch and experience the strong & upcoming WGM America series, “Underground”. “Underground” follows a group of slaves who plan a daring escape from a Georgia plantation to cross 600 miles to freedom.
Aldis Hodge and Jurnee Smollett-Bell answering a fan’s question
The series has a stellar cast including Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Aldis Hodge and Christopher Meloni. All of the main cast & crewmembers including Creator/Writer/Producer Misha Green and director Anthony Hemingway were at the screening to share their experiences on making “Underground”
After the screening was over, the packed house at the auditorium roared with applause and some wanting to know what happens next. A Q&A session had taken place after the screening in which a Howard Junior asked “Why do we need another slave narrative”?
Alano Miller, Jessica de Gouw & Amirah Vann listening in on the conversation
Aldis Hodge who plays Noah in the series responded to the student’s question saying “I don’t think this is the only black issue, I just think it happens to be the loudest because there are so many different projects that cover different timelines in black culture and different histories.” He goes on to add “As far as this project and what we are doing, for me what was lovely about this story is this is the first time that I’ve seen this subject matter portrayed Black Americans as Americans and as people who are strong, intelligent, fighting and winning in what they wanted. This was not taught to me in school while I was young. So, that’s what I love about this particular portrayal of this timeline but I feel like this subject matter gets the most attention because its the most misunderstood portion of our culture because its American history and a lot of people don’t recognize or acknowledge that.”
Check out this powerful series “Underground” when it premieres March 9th at 10:00pm EST on WGN AMERICA
I knew early on that I wanted to take my place among the stars. One day, my mother saw me reading The Washington Post at a very young age. Who would have known that it would be the building blocks of my journey? Since that day, I dedicated my life to learn all that is learnable. I read everything from encyclopedias, to books, to dictionaries, to magazines. I’m also an avid consumer of television, with my favorite genre being game shows. If you’ve seen me on Who Wants to be a Millionaire or Wheel of Fortune, then you know that this interest has served me well!
My unique style of reporting began back in junior high school, when I started to chronicle the events that shaped my life. Whether it was the annual family vacation or the local science fiction convention, I shot numerous pictures and recorded my thoughts so I could truly appreciate the history. During my senior year at Friendly High, I wrote what was to be my first masterpiece, “Advanced Space Academy – A One Week Journey.” I sent the eleven-page article back to the U.S. Space Camp staff. The article was highly praised for being “one of the best written articles in the history of U.S. Space Camp.” From then on, I knew what I wanted to do for rest of my life — to be a reporter.
Since then, I have trained in Broadcast Journalism at Bowie State University (2008) in Bowie, MD earning a B.S. in Communications. I gained experience in news production and editing through field experiences with Bowie Community Media Corporation, Prince George’s Community Television, and Bowie State University Television. I also wrote scripts for a variety of quiz shows for over five years.
As a lifelong movie buff, I now see close to 100 films every year. I took this love of movies to the next step when I became a co-host for Eclipse Magazine TV in the fall of 2005. While at EMTV, I interviewed celebrities, worked red carpets, and attended a wide variety of movie screenings. In January 2009, I took a leap of faith and started my own entertainment news magazine, The Rogers Revue. Shortly afterward, my life-long journey of studying the silver screen and writing about what I learned finally earned me a place in the Washington Area Film Critics Association.
All of this has led me here, giving you the latest entertainment news for the DMV and the entire nation, and I am truly excited for whatever will come next.
