From Stage Coach Mary, the first African-American to work for the U.S. Postal Service, to Sister Rosetta Tharpe, known as the Mother of Rock and Roll, to Frederick McKinley Jones, the man responsible for inventing refrigerated trucking, a new docuseries appropriately named “True First” on Urban Movie Channel (UMC) will bring to life the stories of Black pioneers in American history.
The first of eight episodes will premiere Jan. 31 and continue every Thursday through March 21.
Indianapolis resident Jerald Harkness created the series. And much of the docuseries was filmed in Indiana.
“American history is our history and Black history is American history,” Harkness said.
“We’re really trying to make Black history much more mainstream, much more accepted. It’s not just for one month. It’s something to be celebrated year round.”
Each episode features the story of an untold or little known historical figure. Harkness uses the series to show history isn’t always in the distant past as the episode on swimming features Simone Manuel, the first African-American swimmer to win a gold medal in the Olympics.
The idea for “True First” came from high school friend John Walton, Harkness said. Harkness created the pilot, “Stage Coach Mary,” which was picked up by UMC. The re-enactment was filmed in Terre Haute.
“We cover … topics ranging from slavery to reconstruction to civil rights to hip hop,” Harkness said. “We filmed all but two re-enactments here in Indiana.”
Contact Editor Oseye Boyd at 317-762-7850. Follow her on Twitter @oseye_boyd.
“True First”
An eight-episode docuseries produced by Indianapolis resident Jerry Harkness airs Jan. 31 on Urban Movie Channel (UMC).
Robert L. Johnson, founder and former owner of BET, launched UMC in 2014. In 2018, AMC purchased a majority stake in the company.
Jerald Harkness created “Stage Coach Mary” as the pilot for the docuseries “True First.” (Photo provided)
