Boycott: Sarah’s Oil for not hiring a Freedmen Actress

Freedmen Nation
Aug 8
2 min read

Amazon MGM Studios’ film Sarah’s Oil, set to release on November 7, is now under official boycott by the U.S. Freedmen community.

The reason is clear and non-negotiable: U.S. Freedmen must play U.S. Freedmen.

The film tells the story of Sarah Rector, a young Freedmen girl born in the United States and classified under post-slavery federal systems. Her life is inseparable from the experiences of land mismanagement, forced guardianship, and racial wealth seizure endured by Freedmen children across the South. And yet—Hollywood once again chose to cast outside of our status-based community, refusing to give this role to a U.S. Freedmen actor.

This Is Not Just About Representation—It’s About Jurisdiction

Sarah Rector’s story is not a general “Black” story. It is the story of a specific legal class—U.S. Freedmen, descendants of chattel slavery in the United States. The status carries with it a historical, cultural, and reparative framework that is governed, protected, and enforced by our own institutions.

Casting non-Freedmen in these roles is not artistic license—it is historical theft.

Why the Boycott Matters

The Freedmen Reparations Fund Trust has formally added Sarah’s Oil to the U.S. Freedmen Boycott List for the following reasons:

Exclusion of Freedmen actors in Freedmen roles
Lack of consultation with any Freedmen-governed body or verification system
Monetization of Freedmen history without Freedmen participation
Erasure of the jurisdictional identity that defines Sarah Rector’s legacy

This boycott will include:

Public campaign announcements and media engagement
Rejection of all streaming, ticket sales, and promotions
Direct outreach to distributors, press, and funders
Educational efforts to correct the public narrative

Our Message to the Film Industry

We are no longer asking to be included—we are declaring that our history is not yours to rewrite.

U.S. Freedmen identity is not a costume. It is not interchangeable. If you are not involving actual Freedmen in the telling of Freedmen stories, you are engaging in cultural misappropriation—and we will respond with enforcement, education, and economic action.