Before Equiano News Today

The first chapter has more than 26,000 views. joining me now is co-founder and perry irmer. thank you for coming to "the sunday show." how did you find out about the story and what inspired you to tell his story in this way? >> sure. well, our first series is about ten incredible young people who lived through extreme or unique moments in history and who documented their lives. so equiano is the second film. and our team read many narratives and found equianos and it stuck out as unique.

Enslaved, working on ships mostly, but he then self-published his narrative, his memoir. and that memoir became a wildly popular best-seller. to have been considered a best-seller in that age, your book should have gone to two printings, his went to nine principledings. and his activism and the spread of his story through his memoir actually brought about, helped to bring about the abolition of slavery in england, which at the time was the most active slave trading nation in the world. >> adi, b...

Beautiful civilization, the beautiful family life, the customs, traditions, the culture of africa. and we are so excited to now finally be able to begin this first chapter of african american history, with the origin story in freedom, not in slavery. >> and, perri, let me stick with you for one more question here. there is a letter that equiano wrote to queen charlotte in 1788, i supplicate your majestys compassion for millions of my african country men who have grown under the lash of tyranny i...