On Columbus Day, your favorite writer-actor-performer John Leguizamo laid some history on us presenting a brief snippet from his Tony-nominated historical play, Latin History for Morons. Earlier this year, it was announced that Netflix had filmed the actor’s show, which lays out the history of the world and the forgotten Latinos who helped shape it, and were prepping to let audiences stream it, but there hadn’t been any updates. Since then, Leguizamo has gone on to collaborate with director Ava Duvernay on her upcoming Central Park Five film which will also stream on Netflix.
Well, the streaming giant has finally announced when audiences can dive into Leguizamo’s take on history. Per Leguizamo’s Twitter page, he told audiences to “edumacate yourselves” in preparation for the show which airs November 5. He also included a clip detailing how the Italian explorer, Christopher Columbus was sent to the new world by the Spanish. Upon meeting the indigenous peoples known as the Taínos, Leguizamo reveals how, like a true gangster, Columbus duped them into taking some broken mirrors in exchange for their land. Oh, and threatening them with rape.
Latin History for Morons initially started after Leguizamo’s son asked him about Latino heroes and didn’t know of any. This set off a fire in the actor and director to find some for his son, and go further towards helping others realize how many powerful Latinos there are throughout history. Since the show’s debut at New York’s Public Theater, Leguizamo has been honored by the Tonys with a special award for furthering Latino stories – he’s previously looked at Latino culture in his shows Mambo Mouth, Spic-O-Rama and Freak. He’s also been a vocal advocate for the end of stereotyping against Latinos in entertainment, something he has been a victim of throughout his career. John Leguizamo is awesome, plain and simple, and it’ll be great that audiences in the U.S. will get to partake of his fantastic on-stage storytelling.
UPDATE 10/27/2018: Check out the first trailer for the special below.
Latin History for Morons will be available to stream November 5, 2018 on Netflix.