SDCC 2023: Defiant Creative Team Sheds Light On The Story of Robert Smalls

Defiant: The Story of Robert Smalls shares the incredible true story of a real-life American superhero. At the height of the Civil War, Robert Smalls, a slave working as a Charleston harbor pilot, stole a Confederate warship and sailed it across the naval blockade to freedom in the North. This action was crucial to convincing Abraham Lincoln to accept African American soldiers into the Union Army, and Smalls eventually became a captain in the Navy, leading the very ship he stole. In the aftermath of the Civil War, Smalls’ legacy continued to grow when he was elected into the House of Representatives and became one of the first African American members of Congress, where he had a huge impact on America, including the public school system.