What if the Black people actually received reparations for slavery? What if they used that money to secure some of the Southern states to create their own country? Those questions are on the road to being answered with the new drama that is being developed for Amazon Studios by Amazon’s head of content Roy Price along with film producer Will Packer (Girls Trip, Think Like A Man) and Aaron McGruder (Boondocks). It was first reported back in February that this project was in development but it was without a title and no information was released about it’s plot. Now, Deadline is announcing that the series will officially be called Black America.

The show envisions an alternate history where newly freed African Americans have secured the Southern states of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama post-Reconstruction as reparations for slavery.  With that land, they obtained the freedom to shape their own destiny. The sovereign nation they formed, New Colonia, has had a turbulent and sometimes hostile relationship with its “Big Neighbor,” the United States. The past one hundred and fifty years have been witness to military incursions, assassinations, regime changes, coups, etc. In the Present, after two decades of peace with the U.S. and unprecedented growth, an ascendant New Colonia joins the ranks of major industrialized nations on the world stage as America slides into rapid decline. Inexorably tied together, the fate of two nations, indivisible, hangs in the balance.

Here’s what producer Will Packer had to say about the project:

“It was something that was personally intriguing for me as a black American. You would be hard pressed to find many black Americans who have not thought about the concept of reparation, what would happen if reparations were actually given. As a content creator, the fact that that is something that has been discussed thoroughly throughout various demographics of people in this country but yet never been explored to my knowledge in any real way in long-form content, I thought it was a tremendous opportunity to delve into the story, to do it right.”

The announcement of Black America comes on the heels of HBO announcing that they are actively developing their own alt-history fantasy series called Confederate which envisions a modern society where slavery still exists amongst the Southern States that have successfully seceded from America. The series is being developed by the creative minds behind popular series Game Of Thrones, D.B Weiss and David Benioff. The series announcement has been met with great controversy and even protests on social media that has garnered a huge following.

Amazon announcing the development of Black America is a direct response to the backlash Confederate is receiving. They want the world to know that this series was in development long before Confederate was ever announced. What do you think GOC fam? Does Black America sound like a show you would watch? Let us know in the comments below.

SOURCE: Deadline

Black America is still in its development stage. Updates on casting, production and a premiere date coming soon.