Gabrielle Union will star in and produce an adaptation of the April Sinclair novel Coffee Will Make You Black.

Octavia Spencer will produce it along with Tate Taylor and John Norris. Deborah Riley Draper wrote the script and will direct.

Deadline exclusively broke the news and says this of the plot: Coffee Will Make You Black follows a smart, funny and naive African American teenage girl finding her voice as she navigates conflicting relationships with her mother, her best friends, and her crushes amid racism, sexism and colorism in 1960s Chicago.

“There are so many unheard stories and voices in the African American community that speak to universal themes and the humanity in all of us,” Spencer said. “I wanted to use my platform to create more opportunities for directors and writers of color to tell these stories. This project has women of color in lead roles in front of and behind the camera.

“A smart, funny, poignant coming-of-age film with a young Black female protagonist is important to see,” said Union. “And it is equally important to see the complicated relationship between a Black mother and her daughter as they try to succeed and assimilate in a change-resistant America.

On the film front, Union starred in last year’s hit film Breaking In, and she has a new TV series coming up, the Bad Boys spinoff L.A.’s Finest.

Photo: Monica Schipper/Getty Images for New York & Company, Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic

Coffee Will Make You Black

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