Harriet, a film on the power of faith

As I watched the movie, HARRIET, I felt as if my book MOSES, illustrated by Kadir Nelson, were coming to life. However, to say that the movie, or my book, was faithful to her biography would be false. Masterfully executed, the film included composite and archetypal characters, as well as dramatic episodes which were not in the 1848 narrative that Harriet dictated to Sarah Bradford. Yet, the movie was true to Harriet’s faith journey. The spirits of Harriet, of William Still and of her enslaved kin and bands of runaways were conveyed with deserved magnitude. Harriet’s courageous exploits–on the Underground Railroad and as a Civil War spy–are legendary. Though barely five feet tall, the real-life Mother Tubman was larger than any myth, any movie, or for that matter, any piece of money that may bear her portrait. May her miracles continue to inspire.