It's 1756 in a village in what's now Nigeria.

11-year-old Olata Equiano runs through the yard of his family home, playing tag with his younger sister. She shrieks in delight as she cuts a quick corner and races away from her older brother.

But Olada almost clatters into his sister's back when she suddenly stops running.

Puzzled, Olada follows her gaze and his stomach lurches when he sees three figures

climbing over the fence into their yard.

Ever since he was a young child, Olaada's parents have warned him what to do in a situation

like this. This part of Africa is plagued by kidnappers who work for slavers. They abduct

children to be sent to slave markets on the coast. Olaada's parents drilled into him that if he's ever approached by strangers, he must run. So O'Olaida's parents drilled into him that if he's ever approached by strangers, he must run.

So Olata grabs his sister's arm, and they dash in the opposite direction away from the men.

But the kidnappers quickly catch up.

One of them pulls Olada's sister down to the ground.

Then the other two men sees Olada too, and a hand is clamped over his mouth as Olada is roughly pushed to the ground. Then the other two men sees Olata too, and a hand is clamped over his

mouth as Olata is roughly pushed to the ground and restrained. Then he and his sister are

hustled out of the yard and away from the home to which they'll now never return. Six months

after being kidnapped, Olata Equiano will be placed on a slave ship and taken across the Atlantic Ocean to America.

Eventually, years later, he'll buy his freedom from slavery and dedicate his life to ending the cruel practice forever,

becoming a major figure in the abolition movement, thanks to a memoir that

documents the horror of the slave trade. But accounts that depict the brutal reality of slavery

will struggle to find a mass audience until almost 200 years later when one man's quest to

trace his family history will result in a best-selling book and a hit television series that will

premiere on January 23, 1977.

When I first began thinking about a live show, I knew I wanted it to be a little more special than

...