Source: Eurweb and hggirlonfire.com

Who says Lifetime is just filled with stories of white women being battered by their husbands? Well actually for a while there that was pretty much all the network was about, but increasingly they’ve been adding more diversity to their lineup and this latest project (among many others like the all-black Steel Magnolias remake and the Tiffany Rubin story starring Taraji P. Henson last year) proves they’re recognizing the need to add more color to their network.

According to press release on Shadow and Act:

Lifetime has green lit the Original Movie Abducted: The Carlina White Story, starring Aunjanue Ellis (The Help), Keke Palmer (True Jackson, VP), and Emmy® Award winner Sherri Shepherd (30 Rock, The View) in the remarkable true story of Carlina White (Palmer), who after being abducted as an infant from a New York hospital, solved her own kidnapping and reunited with her biological parents 23 years later….

In August of 1987, new parents Joy White (Shepherd) and Carl Tyson (Roger Cross, 24) took their 19-day old daughter Carlina to Harlem Hospital in New York with a high fever. Ann Pettway (Ellis), who had suffered a series of miscarriages and was desperate for a child of her own, posed as a hospital nurse and befriended Carlina’s parents, even offering to watch over their daughter. But shortly after Carlina was admitted, Pettway removed the child’s IV line, placed her in an oversized handbag, and walked out of the hospital with Carlina hidden from view. While Joy and Carl desperately searched for their daughter over the years, Pettway was raising Carlina as Nejdra “Netty” Nance in Bridgeport, Connecticut – a mere 45 miles from New York City. As Carlina grew older she began to suspect Pettway was not her birth mother and launched her own investigation. After contacting the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Carlina was reunited with her biological parents in January 2011.

As someone who lives for a Lifetime Movie, I can tell you I’m all over this. But more than just being a Lifetime junkie, I’m also glad the network is shedding light on stories like this as we often talk about how much reports of missing black children are overlooked. If the news won’t cover these stories, at least Lifetime can bring them to life on the small screen.

What do you think about this movie idea? Had you heard of Carlina White’s story?

Brande Victorian is the news and operations editor for madamenoire.com. Follow her on twitter @Be_Vic.

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