Home is where the heart is, and in a part of Kansas City, a mansion sits at the heart of what was once a rich, black community. It’s also home to a rich and rarely shared chapter of American history. It is where Sarah Rector settled.
Sarah was 11 years old when she became “the youngest and first black female millionaire” in Kansas City. After a divine discovery of oil, underneath 160 acres of land she inherited in Oklahoma in the early 1900s, her inspiring story is now a major motion picture.
The film premiered in Kansas City, where the film’s stars and Sarah’s real-life family unite. Naya Desir-Johnson plays Sarah alongside Sonequa Martin-Green and Kenric Green, real-life husband and wife who play Sarah’s parents.
Desir-Johnson told CBN News’ Studio 5 why she wanted to play the role of young Sarah.
“I wanted to play Sarah Rector because she’s amazing. I felt like there’s so much I can say about her that she’s brave, she’s ambitious, and she still loved her family. The best part about that, they supported her because most of the kids that I know, their families don’t really support most of the choices that they make. And I think it’s important to have a family that will believe you, that trusts you,” she continued.
Sonequa Martin-Green, who plays Sarah’s mother Rose, shared what portraying this role meant to her.
“We’ve been talking a lot about just what a wonder it is that this story is not known. I had seen that picture that circulates, which is not her, but we found that out from her descendants. I had seen that picture, but I had never heard this story. There was so much about the origin of the state of Oklahoma that I didn’t know; there was so much about natives and enslaved black folks that I didn’t know, the Dawes Act. I did not know this is serious American history, serious black history that I think was deliberately hidden. So that was the first thing I was like, I’m sorry, how did this happen? And then being able to bring directors to life. Rose was integral in Sarah’s life once they came into the wealth. Once Sarah took possession, got the oil, her and Rose had a fantastic relationship as mother and daughter, but also professionally,” Martin-Green said.
Kenric Green plays Sarah’s dad, Joe Rector. He expressed how much Sarah Rector believed in family unity.
“I think in a word, faith. Faith is the glue. I think without that, this story does not play out in the way that we’ve come to understand it. To get to walk that out in the Rector’s shoes with my real-life wife and with our new surrogate daughter here. I love it. It was just a beautiful, it was a dream to be able to do that. And so there’s the togetherness in the story, and it really translated off camera in between takes between the 3 of us and Adyan who played Junior,” he told CBN News’ Studio 5.
“It’s beautiful how it all took place. And God was there with us in between takes, too. And that is where that’s how it all came together and how the Rector family was able to overcome all of the adversity they experienced in this time,” he continued.
Zachary Levi portrays the role of Bert Smith, Sarah’s unlikely business partner, in a fierce fight to keep her land and her oil. He shared with CBN News’ Studio 5 his role in the film and the dynamic relationship that is shown between Sarah and Bert.
“He’s an intelligent man, and I guess you could also call him a little precocious, not as Spirit-filled, certainly not in the beginning of the film, but I think that toward the end, that’s a big impact that Sarah has on Bert is to reflect God to him and to remind him that there is something bigger, larger, more important than the more, let’s say, selfish life that he had been living up to that point.”
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“I think that at his core, again, particularly in the beginning of the film, Burt’s an opportunist. He’s a hustler. He is somebody who, and I think a lot of people were and still are, obviously. I mean, it’s a dog-eat-dog world out there for a lot of people. And so, he grew up hard and worked hard in lots of different wildcatting capacities, digging up Earth, and for many years, as he talks about in the film, he digs for everything. But I do think that there’s something about Bert that, and you see it, that I think that Bert, particularly having worked in the oil fields and worked with black men and Latin men, and they’re just men to him, like yes, there’s nomenclature in things that get thrown around and everything else, but Burt was never part and parcel to the kind of racist tendencies that I think a lot of other people unfortunately fell under,” he continued.
Desir-Johnson, who plays Sarah in the film, shared why this story is so important today.
“We need this story because there are many little black girls right now who aren’t feeling empowered that they can do anything because society is purposely shutting them out, and that isn’t okay. And I think it’s important when black girls hear this story because then they’ll know that they can do anything and they’re amazing and they can do anything. And if the world tells ’em no, that’s just a reason to keep pushing and go forward. And for Sarah Rector to face these trials and hardships, I think it’ll just spark a light within them, and more of them will stand up and speak for what they believe in. That’s why I think we need this story. And many other people too, they feel like they can’t stand up and speak their mind. But I think it’s important because we need more people who aren’t afraid to speak up. And I think this is a calling to those people. But yeah, I think this is why we need that story.”
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