Kenya Barris & Pharrell Williams in Talks to Create Netflix Juneteenth Musical

Kenya Barris & Pharrell Williams are reportedly in talks to create a feature-length musical about Juneteenth for Netflix. Juneteenth celebrates June 19, 1865, the day that Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, to announce that the slaves were now free. 

Williams is a prolific Grammy award-winning singer-songwriter while Barris created the critically acclaimed series Black-ish and Black-AF

The pair is in the early stages of production, and neither the duo nor the streamer has released any specific details about the project. The plot and other aspects of the project are kept secret until there is more development. 

In talking about the project, Williams stated the purpose of the project is to “stand in solidarity with their African American brothers and sisters. This year, Juneteenth will look like no other Juneteenth before it.” 

William’s home state of Virginia just made Juneteenth a paid state holiday after a long fight to make the commemoration of the end of slavery in America a holiday. Additionally, Barris has been vocal about his support of creating Juneteenth as a national holiday in America. 

Virginia is the latest state to make Juneteenth a paid state holiday, following the lead of New York and Texas.

Grace Rittenhouse: Hi! My name is Grace Rittenhouse and I'm a student at George Washington University studying Psychology and Journalism. I'm originally from Philadelphia but am now living in Washington, D.C. for school. I'm hoping to go into journalism, media, and film industry post-graduation. I've previously written for College Scoops and other online publications. I also have a background in photojournalism and have worked for my university newspaper.
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