On May 10, 2018, season two of Atlanta's "Crabs in the Barrel'' aired on FX, which was the last episode of Season 2. 16 days later (May 26, 2018), there was a report of a brown SUV found at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. It would later be reported that the casualties in the SUV were foster parents Jennifer and Sarah Hart, along with six children: Marks 19, Jeremiah 14, Abigail 14, Ciera 12, Hannah 16, and Devonte, 15. Devonte is still considered missing but presumed to be deceased (Stevens, 2019). There are numerous reasons why and how the foster parents ended up in the Pacific Ocean with six children.
The first episode of season 3 of Atlanta, titled "Three Slaps” told the story of Devonte from an outside perspective. We watched as the character Loquareeous went from celebrating getting to watch "Black Panther 2,” being disciplined by his mom and grandfather (I felt that slap), to being removed from his home to a foster home, where he had to save himself and three other children from their foster parents' decision to drive off a cliff.
We as the culture knew that when we tuned into FX to watch "Atlanta," we were going to laugh together on "Black Twitter," or we were going to be saying "Damn" to ourselves. “Three Slaps" not only had us saying "Damn," but it also had some of us remembering Devonte Hart and the Hart family.
I want to thank the writer Stephen Glover, the director Hiro Mauri, and Donald Glover for using their platform to remind us of the story of Devonte Hart and the Hart Family. After almost four years, as we anticipated watching "Atlanta," we got a forgotten story that happened in "America."
