Will Smith Has a Lesson in Citizenship for Us

We have considered the 13TH; now, today, let’s learn about the Fourteenth Amendment of 1868.

Hosted by One Strange Rock host with the most (and executive producer) Will Smith, Amend: The Fight for America is a new Netflix docu-series that zeroes in on the long slog, ever evolving…often lethal…, toward equal rights in the United States of 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,” said Smith in a press release announcing the project, which features the likes of two-time Oscar winner Mahershala Ali, Samuel L. Jackson, Diane Lane, Laverne Cox, Yara Shahidi, and Randall Park, as well as thought leaders like Sherrilyn Ifill and Bryan Stevenson and Vanita Gupta.

“As Americans,” added Smith, “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.”

Word.

Best to keep on learnin, ’cause they keep on coming for us, and we gotta keep on beating them, don’t we.