ALL: What do we want? Justice!
When do we want it? Now!
What do we want? Justice!
When do we want it? Now! What do we...
Hey, guys, this is Penny Proud,
coming to you live from Smithville City Jail.
Let everybody know that this is what happens
when you reveal the truth.
And without truth, there can be no justice.
-What do we want? -ALL: Justice!
-When do we want it? -Now!
(SINGING) The... Proud... Family... What?
You and me will always be tight
Family every day and every night
Even when you start acting like a fool
You know that I'm lovin' every single thing you do
I know I can always be myself
When I'm with you more than anybody else
Every single day that I'm headed off to school
You know there's no one I love as much as you
-The family -The family
Proud family
They'll make you scream!
They'll make you wanna sing!
It's a family thing, a family A proud, proud family
Proud family
They'll push your buttons!
They'll make you wanna hug 'em
A family, family Proud, proud family
(OSCAR SCREAMS)
What do we want?
ALL: Justice! When do we want it? Now!
(TAPE REWINDING)
(VIDEO GAME BEEPING)
(CHITTERS)
-(SPLATTERS) -RANDALL: Ow!
(CHITTERS)
KG, put the game down and eat your breakfast.
See? I told you it was breakfast.
What's all of this? I was going to fix breakfast.
Nuh-uh-uh-uh. Not today. Today is your day, honey.
Hey, Dad, what you talking about?
Do you wanna tell 'em, or should I?
(CHUCKLES) Well, basically, I...
Your dad is the great-great-great-great- great-grandnephew of Christian A. Smith,
the founder of Smithville!
(VIDEO GAME BEEPING)
(CHUCKLES NERVOUSLY)
So, you mean you're related to that statue in the park?
Well, not the statue, per se,
but I am distantly connected to the man
-who is represented by the statue. -(MEOWS)
Your dad is Smithville royalty!
And next week, my dear husband will be the featured speaker
when they break ground for the renovation of the park.
(CAT SCREECHING)
-That's great, Dad! -(CAT THUDS)
-(MEOWS) -(OBJECTS CLATTERING)
-Yeah, that's lit! Congrats, Dad. -(CHUCKLES)
-Go on. You are the sweetest, you guys. -(CAT HOWLING)
I didn't do anything, really. It's just how I was born.
-Barry, sit down. I made your favorite. -(CLATTERING)
Whoa. What is this?
It's shrimp and grits.
Where is the shrimp, though?
(WHISTLING)
Well, look at the time. I'm running late. Gotta go.
-Me, too. Bye. -Whoa. I'm out, Dad.
Wh... What's wrong with 'em? This food is good.
(CHITTERS)
Mmm-mmm.
It's not?
(CHITTERING)
(SCHOOL BELL RINGS)
(CHATTERING INDISTINCTLY)
Uh, hello? Can I help you? I'm Maya.
Oh. Hi, Maya. I'm, uh, I'm Emily.
I ain't never seen you before. You look lost.
Um, um...
Yeah. I'm looking for my History class. I forgot the teacher's name.
I'm new and I'm still getting used to it here. (CHUCKLES)
You talkin' 'bout Miss Brady.
Miss Brady. Yes, yes, yes. I, I think that's her.
Cool. That's where I'm headin' now. Wanna join?
MS. BRADY: As I mentioned before,
Smithville was founded in 1827.
Its motto, "Life, liberty, and honor."
Oh! I just love those words. Don't you?
As an entrepreneur and humanitarian,
Christian A. Smith touched many lives.
Psst, psst. Emily, come sit next to me.
(MS. BRADY CLEARS THROAT)
Maya, since you apparently have so much to share,
maybe you'd like to come up and tell the class
all about our founder, Mr. Smith.
(STUDENTS LAUGHING)
Well,
for one thing, he's a direct ancestor of my father.
STUDENTS: Ooh! (LAUGHING)
(CHUCKLES)
Oh, no, dear. That's not possible.
(CHUCKLES) Oh, yes, it is.
Oh, no, it isn't.
-Yes, it is. -(CHUCKLES)
-No, it isn't. -Yes, it is.
-Oh, no, it isn't. -Yes, it is.
-Uh, no, it isn't. -Ooh, yes, it is.
She's adopted, Miss Brady.
Oh, well, that makes sense.
It's still no excuse to interrupt my class,
especially when it's not really your own family history, Maya.
STUDENTS: Oh, zang!
Now, as I mentioned before,
the statue of Mr. Smith will be renovated along with the park
in order to preserve his legacy for future generations
to admire and revere.
The location of the statue is on the very land
that previously made up the Smith family farm.
Psst. Ask her what crops were grown on the Smith farm.
The very farm which Mr. Smith... What now, Maya?
Well, I was just wondering, what crops did they grow on the Smith farm?
Ugh. The usual. Corn, wheat, cotton.
(SCHOOL BELL RINGS)
Well, that's all for today.
Don't forget, class is at the park tomorrow.
Bring garden gloves.
We'll be sprucing up the site for the ground-breaking ceremony.
Emily? Where'd she go?
Is it just me, or does anyone else find it strange
that they were growing cotton on the Smith farm?
Which wasn't called a farm back then.
What are you sayin', Maya?
I'm sayin' it seems shady, like, kinda plantation-y.
Why do you always have to be so dark, Harriet Tubman?
If you think it's a insult to call me Harriet Tubman,
it's not, sis.
Look, I'm not the only one to ask the question.
My girl asked first. Tell 'em, Emily.
(SLURPS)
Uh, who are you talkin' about?
Emily. She right...
(SCHOOL BELL RINGS)
(STUDENTS CHATTERING INDISTINCTLY)
Well, that was rude.
(CHUCKLES)
RANDALL: Eh, too Christmas-y.
Uh-uh. Too Prince-y.
But I thought I am your prince.
Wrong Prince. Change.
(GASPS)
Too Village People-y. Where's the suit I bought you?
Oh, the Village People were very colorful.
Uh, Daddy. Can I talk to you?
-Sure, baby. -Sure, babe.
I meant Bar-Bar.
Sure, May-May. What is it?
You workin' undercover again?
(BOTH CHUCKLING)
No. I was gonna wear this to the ground-breaking ceremony.
What do you think?
Uh...
Too Village People.
See, I told you. Put this on.
(CHUCKLES) Oh, Okay. This is nice.
RANDALL: I got you, boo. I got you.
You're gonna knock 'em dead at the ceremony, honey.
I'm so proud of you.
Aw, I couldn't do it without you.
Oh, I'm sorry. Uh, what was it you wanted to talk about, Maya?
Uh...
Actually, it's nothin'.
I got a bunch of homework to do. We'll talk later.
-Yo, Maya. Hurry up. Come on. -(COMPUTER BEEPS)
I'm not finished yet, noodlehead.
-MAYA: This is weird, dude. -(BEEPS)
I can't find any information on Christian A. Smith before 1900...
-Watch out! -(SIGHS) Come on.
Just let me in. I'll show you.
(MAYA GASPS)
What is that?
Listen, you ever heard of the Dark Web?
This right here is the Obsidian Web. That means...
Yeah, I know what it means, dweeb. Bituminous.
Bitu, bitumina... What? What does that mean?
Just type, weirdo.
MAYA: Whoa!
(YELPS)
(SCREAMS)
(GRUNTS)
Wow. I knew it.
What?
Elon is an alien.
Come on, KG, stop playin' around.
(BEEPING)
(COMPUTER BLARING)
-What happened? -You're right.
There's nothing before 1900.
Seems like somebody's trying to hide what Mr. Smith was up to.
All day
(SIGHS)
-(MOTOR WHIRS) -(SCREAMS)
Leaf fight! (LAUGHS)
-Leaf fight! -(LAUGHS)
-No, stop! -(LAUGHING)
Oh, I'm coming for you.
(BOTH LAUGH)
(GIRLS LAUGHING)
-(SCREAMS) -Got ya!
(SCREAMS)
Ooh, girl. You look crazy!
(GIGGLES)
Stop playing.
Don't get anything on my clothes!
(ALL LAUGHING AND SHOUTING INDISTINCTLY)
Kids! Kids! Stop this now, dang it! Ugh!
-Whoo! -We're here to clean up, not mess up.
-(CHUCKLES) -Maya, come with me.
I think I may have found something.
(STUDENTS LAUGHING)
-What is this? -I don't know.
Treasure?
Open it. I wanna see.
This seems like it's someone's diary.
Oh, hey, look, her name is Emily, too.
-Uh... -(STUDENTS LAUGHING)
What?
(LAUGHING)
What did you find, Maya?
I'm not sure, but I think it's a diary.
(GASPS)
This is incredible. We have to show this to Miss Brady.
Nah. I got a better idea. We takin' this to Brother Kwame.
(SCHOOL BELL RINGS)
"What a surprise to me as I hear in passing.
"The celebration of free men who sing Jubilee.
"No signs of that here.
"As Christian Smith would say,
"'Stop the festivities.
"'The Negro doesn't have a day.'"
What's Jubilee?
That's what they called Juneteenth, back in the day.
Wait, you mean, they still weren't free after Juneteenth?
How did that happen?
The Emancipation Proclamation only applied to Confederate states.
Union border states were not required to abolish slavery.
So, it's true.
Lincoln really didn't care about freeing enslaved people.
Actually, he wanted to deport us.
(GASPS) Why are we just learning this?
This should be the first sentence of his biography.
STUDENTS: Yeah!
Maya, this is really incredible. How did you know where to find this?
It's gonna sound insane but, uh, Emily showed me where it was.
So, you're talking about the same Emily
who wrote that diary over 150 years ago?
Hold on. Are you sayin' Emily is a ghost?
Yeah, girl. Well, not a ghost, but, uh, an ancestor.
So, yes. (CHUCKLES) Yes, I am.
Maybe she knows the Bent-Neck Lady.
(LAUGHING)
Okay, okay. That's enough.
The ancestors speak through us all, as long as you're receptive.
It's clear that Sister Maya was directed to this diary.
Well, I just wanna hear how the ancestors
broke it down at that Jubilee party. Keep readin'.
Sorry, that's it. There's no more.
Why would she just stop there?
MAYA: What do you think?
I don't know. I mean...
Oh.
You think they would do that just because she wanted to celebrate Juneteenth?
If somebody will make you a slave, they'll do anything.
Let's not jump to conclusions.
Enslaved people were not allowed to read or write.
Maybe she hid the diary and couldn't retrieve it.
Yeah, but if she got caught trying to throw a Juneteenth jam?
Mmm-mmm.
(MAYA SIGHS)
I just can't believe Christian A. Smith was a slave owner.
Yeah, Miss Brady forgot to mention that
when we were plantin' flowers around his statue.
Hold up! Why are we even honoring a slave owner?
And why are we renovating his statue?
The only thing that needs renovating is the way history is told.
She's right. We gotta do something.
We will.
I'm gonna have a talk with Wizard Kelly about this.
That event needs to be canceled.
Period!
And I'll talk to my dad.
There's no way he'll wanna be a part of that ceremony once he hears this.
BARRY: Look, Maya,
I understand why you're upset. I can see your perspective.
But there's no way of being certain that any of this actually happened.
It's all written in the diary, Dad.
I just know that my people wouldn't have done anything like this.
Your people? Ugh!
Oh, May-May!
(SIGHS)
Well, you understand, love, don't you?
No. No, I do not understand anything about white fragility.
White fragility? What's that supposed to mean?
You know what it means. You're doin' it right now.
-Doing what? -Being defensive about race.
Robin DiAngelo wrote a whole book about it.
Read it. You're on page 39.
I am not on page 39.
MAYA: My dad wouldn't even look at the diary.
He said his people would never own slaves.
How could he just dismiss me like that?
White fragility.
Ugh. Brother Kwame, what did Wizard Kelly say?
And I quote, "Get over it. That was 400 years ago... Y'all."
Hmm. Sounds like Black fragility.
So, what now, y'all? Something has to be done.
We could pull down that statue.
Isn't that what everybody's doing nowadays?
ALL: That's right. Pull it down and drag it through the streets.
All right, nobody's pulling down anything. We have to find another way.
Then we'll get into some good trouble.
We will march until they take that statue down.
Because the people united will never be defeated.
Say it with me. The people united will never be defeated!
ALL: The people united will never be defeated!
The people united will never be defeated!
We're here to renovate and re-dedicate this park
in honor of Smithville's founding father,
Christian A. Smith,
without whom, none of us would be here, y'all,
including my Wizard Kelly pop-up store.
We're selling Christian A. Smith T-shirts,
bobbleheads, and Salisbury steak. Mmm!
-Made frontier style, y'all. -(PEOPLE CHEERING)
Now, without further ado, I present to you,
Christian A. Smith's great, great, great, great grandnephew,
Barry Leibowitz-Jenkins,
who will have the honor of digging the first hole
in tribute to his ancestor, y'all.
(PEOPLE CHATTERING INDISTINCTLY)
STUDENTS: Christian A. Smith, his legacy is a myth!
Christian A. Smith, his legacy is a myth!
Christian A. Smith,
-his legacy is a myth! -(GASPS)
Oh, no!
Penny! What are you doing? Get over here!
(CHANTING CONTINUES)
No, Dad. We will not stop
until that statue of that slave owner comes tumbling down.
BOTH: Slave owner?
-Oscar? -You gotta be jivin'.
-(UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING) -Christian A. Smith, his legacy is a myth!
-(BLOWS WHISTLE)
-Christian A. Smith, his legacy is a myth! -(WHISTLES)
Officers, please put these little kids in cuffs, y'all.
WOMAN: Stop, they just kids!
-Audience, no photos please. -(CROWD CLAMORING)
Why are you in riot gear? We don't see no riot here.
Come on, y'all, here come Wizard Kelly's goons.
Penny, stand your ground.
STUDENTS: Why are you in riot gear? We don't see no riot here.
-LaCienega! -Penny!
Barry! Barry, don't just stand there.
Do something!
-Let's go! -(CHANTING CONTINUES)
They're gonna arrest our babies. Do something with your white privilege.
Clear the area!
-Barry! -(GASPS)
OFFICER 1: Comply! Comply!
Stop! I'm Detective Leibowitz-Jenkins, and those are my children.
-Back up! -(GRUNTS)
(CROWD CLAMORING)
-Dad! -Come on! This way!
No, that's my dad!
(SCREAMING)
-Hey you! Don't you run away from me! -(YELPS)
-OFFICER 2: Don't move! -Ow! Vicious!
-(SCREAMS) -Don't worry.
OFFICER 3: Do not move!
-Dad! -Maya!
Dad!
ALL: What do we want? Justice! When do we want it? Now!
And just like Emily, we want justice. Am I right, people?
-ALL: Yeah! Yeah! -(CHANTING CONTINUES)
Free Huey! That's right. She's right!
PENNY: Okay, Dad. Huey been out for a long time.
Keep the protest going. Call the mayor, call your congressmen.
Call the president.
Definitely call the vice president.
Do everything you can!
Hey, Kamala!
Yeah! Yeah, you're right. Free Huey! Ow!
Make your voices heard!
-What do we want? Justice... -(BARRY SIGHS)
I guess I was so ashamed of the history
that I couldn't face it.
I wanted...
I wanted to pretend that it didn't happen.
Sweetheart, pretending something didn't happen
doesn't make it go away.
I know that now.
May-May, you and your friends helped me see that,
and I am eternally grateful.
Can you forgive me?
I understand if you can't.
I think I can, Bar-Bar.
Good news, people.
Thanks to my lawyerly skills, you've all made bail.
Oscar, my man, uh, um...
I had to put up your factory, though.
Whatchu just say, Igloo?
Did they tear down that statue?
Did they change the name of the city?
Did they impeach Wizard Kelly?
Oh, heck, no. They ain't done none of that.
You know the Wizard ain't going nowhere.
They just said that you could go home.
That's not good enough, Igloo!
-Heck, no, we won't go! -ALL: Heck, no, we won't go!
Heck, no, we won't go! Heck, no, we won't go!
Hey, y'all, Penny Proud here.
I promised you justice was coming soon.
Well, I think it's gonna be a little while longer.
ALL: Heck, no, we won't go!
(CROWD APPLAUDING)
And last of all, I'd like to thank the mayor.
Of course, (CHUCKLES) that's me Wizard Kelly, y'all.
And his staff for this beautiful renovation
of this historic site.
And without further ado, I now give to you the unveiling.
I give you Maya Leibowitz-Jenkins, y'all.
-Ooh, I love that name. -(CHEERING)
Sounds like it comes with a side of ribs, y'all.
Thank you, Mayor Kelly. (CHUCKLES)
I am so honored to be presenting to you the new name of our great city.
I give you...
(CHUCKLES)
Emilyville.
-(CROWD GASPS) -(CHEERING)
(PEOPLE CHATTERING INDISTINCTLY)
In honor of this historic event,
I'd like to read a poem from Emily's diary.
Turns out, this is where the slave quarters
-were located on the Smith plantation. -(CROWD GASPS)
"Still surrounded by these walls on the first Jubilee
"has me feeling that I'll never be seen.
"In the dead of the night,
BOTH: "just for us few, we exchange melodies... "
EMILY: "And hope that our future ensues.
"To give us life beyond these invisible bricks.
"One after another, after another, our freedom exists."
It is astounding to see how far we've come,
and how far we've yet to travel.
It is our duty to use our privilege as modern people
to keep the history of this nation alive.
As for Emily's history,
I am happy to say that she was eventually granted her freedom
along with others in the border states.
She went on to have a very large, illustrious, and proud family.
They are here with us today.
-(CROWD CHEERING) -(APPLAUDING)
However, (CHUCKLES) I'd like to think that all little Black girls
are spiritual descendants of Emily.
I know I am,
and I'm so honored that we can all continue her legacy.
Thank you, all, and thank you, Emily!
(ALL CHEERING)
(WHISTLING)
(CROWD CHATTERING INDISTINCTLY)
(GASPS)
Who is that lady, May-May?
She's a friend.
(BOTH GASP)
(THEME MUSIC PLAYING)