Philadelphia's Will Smith will be playing history teacher on Netflix this month as host and executive producer of "Amend: The Fight for America," a six-episode documentary series about the 14th Amendment to the Constitution.
Ratified in 1868, the amendment, among other things, established that citizens of the United States are entitled to equal protection under the law. And by defining citizenship as "all persons born or naturalized in the United States," it effectively included formerly enslaved people among those entitled to such protection.
"We are living in unprecedented days as a society, as a country, and as a human family," Smith said in a statement released by Netflix. "I believe that the cultivation of personal and historical understanding is the imperative spark igniting the flames of desperately needed compassion and healing. ... A deeper understanding of the 14th Amendment is a critical jumping-off point."
Among the actors participating in the series, which will premiere on Feb. 17, are Mahershala Ali, Sterling K. Brown, Laverne Cox, Diane Lane, Samuel L. Jackson, Randall Park, Pedro Pascal, and Yara Shahidi.
Other participants include such experts as Equal Justice Initiative founder Bryan Stevenson, NAACP Legal Defense Fund president Sherrilyn Ifill, and law professor Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw.
Larry Wilmore is also an executive producer on the project.
