‘The Porter’ brings stories of Black liberation to CBC and BET+
‘The Porter’ follows the railway workers who gave birth to the world's first Black union.
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The Porter is set in the roar of the 1920s and follows the journeys of four ambitious souls who hustle, dream, cross borders and confront barriers in the fight for liberation – on and off the railways that crossed North America.
Originated and created by Arnold Pinnock (Altered Carbon) and Bruce Ramsay (19-2), the series is set primarily in Montreal, Chicago and Detroit as the world rebuilds after the First World War. For the American and Canadian men working as railway porters, it’s a fight for equity and dignity.
“Bruce and I have always wanted to showcase the Railway Porters and their families - and the impact they had in Black communities in cities across North America,” said Pinnock.
The production itself mirrors the show's triumphs of Black ambition and fight for equality. Pinnock told CBC’s The National, “In the past, I was told straight to my face, in some circumstances, that there was not an audience.”
The eight-part series is written and produced by Jamaican-Canadian Annmarie Morais (Killjoys) and Marsha Greene (Private Eyes), with Charles Officer (Coroner) and R.T. Thorne (Utopia Falls) set to executive produce and direct.
“The Porter is more than a healthy dose of history. It’s a bold, sexy, unapologetic look at Black ambition,” said Morais.
Joining the cast is Aml Ameen (Jamaican-Vincentian descent), Mouna Traoré, Marlene Massey (Haitian descent), Oluniké Adeliyi (Jamaican-Nigerian descent), Luc Roderique (Trinidadian descent).
Season 1 of The Porter premieres on February 21, 2022 on Canada’s CBC and CBC Gem.
