Will Smith Produced ‘Amend: The Fight for America’ Depicts the Historical Intersection of the Black and Gay Civil Rights Movements: WATCH

The upcoming Netflix docuseries, Amend: The Fight for America, executive-produced by Larry Wilmore and actor Will Smith, focuses on the fight for Black and LGBT equal rights in the United States vis a vis the 14th Amendment.

“Amend: The Fight for America is a six-part docuseries that explores the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution – which, in 1868, promised liberty and equal protection for all persons – as America’s most enduring hallmark of democracy. Amend deploys a groundbreaking narrative format featuring a number of luminaries (Mahershala Ali, Diane Lane, Samuel L. Jackson, Pedro Pascal, Yara Shahidi, and more) breathing life into speeches and writings by the Fourteenth Amendment’s most ardent advocates and foes (including Frederick Douglass, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Andrew Johnson) with insights from an inclusive array of contemporary thought leaders and experts. Executive produced and hosted by Oscar-nominated actor Will Smith and Emmy-winning writer Larry Wilmore, Amend is a powerful, multimedia journey through American history that encourages viewers to question what a “United States” really means.” via Netflix.

Host and executive producer Will Smith says, “I am honored to present Amend: The Fight for America. We are living in unprecedented days as a society, as a country, and as a human family. I believe that the cultivation of personal and historical understanding is the imperative spark igniting the flames of desperately needed compassion and healing. As Americans, we endeavor to form a more perfect union that truly establishes justice and equality for all. I believe a deeper understanding of the 14th Amendment is a critical jumping off point. Our hope with this series is to illuminate the beauty that is the promise of America and to share a message of connection and shared humanity so that we will be able to better understand and celebrate our different experiences as Americans and promote progress toward the true equality promised to all persons under the 14th Amendment. I’m grateful to Netflix and the phenomenal group of people who came together both in front of and behind the camera to help us tell this story.”

Watch the trailer below.

The series arrives on Netflix on February 17.