'The Book' opens on BET

PASADENA, Calif. — BET is throwing The Book at you.

Debuting Feb. 16 and running for three straight nights in two-hour segments on BET, The Book of Negroes is a mini-series version of Lawrence Hill's book, which was released in the United States as Someone Knows My Name. It stars Aunjanue Ellis as Aminata Diallo, a slave who works for the British during the Revolutionary War and is granted her freedom in return. The title of the movie refers to an actual book compiled by the British of loyalists ex-slaves.

The story of African-American loyalists is one few Americans have heard, says Hill, because we're seldom taught the British side of the Revolution. "The lesson underneath it is that history belongs to the victors."

The losers, of course, were not pure either. While the British freed slaves who were owned by Americans, they kept their own and moved them into slavery in Canada. "There's great hypocrisy on the part of the British," says Hill.

Serving the British may have had its costs, Ellis says, but ultimately she sees Aminata as a survivor. "Survival ain't pretty. You have to do what you have to do when you have to do it."

One of the stars of the movie is Louis Gossett Jr., who of course starred in the greatest TV movie about slavery, Roots. What lesson does he take from these two projects?

"We've made progress, not perfection. We're going in the right direction and you ain't seen nothing yet."