Yeah, we all love Rosario Dawson for playing tough women in Marvel's Netflix shows and in any number of movies, but what I love about her most is her politics. She's a fierce and vocal advocate for women's rights and criminal justice reform, making herself a visible presence during the recent Presidential election. And it's good to see that at least one of her upcoming films will be a reflection of that advocacy, because she's now set to play activist Donna Hylton in a new biopic.
Dawson will star in A Little Piece of Light which is based on Hylton's biography. At the age of 7, the Jamaica-born Hylton was sold by her mother to an American couple from New York. Her adoptive father turns out to have been a pedophile, and she would hide in the closet until she saw a little piece of light through the door that meant he was coming to get her. At the age of 19 she was arrested for participating in a kidnapping and murder, serving a 27-year sentence before being released in 2012. Earning her Bachelors Degree, Hylton would go on to council other abused and incarcerated women while continuing to fight for criminal justice reform.
A female writer and director is being sought, which is obviously the right way to go with this powerful material. Dawson can currently be seen in Luke Cage, and will be heard as Batgirl in next year's The Lego Batman Movie.
