AllMovie

Ossie Davis stars in this 60-minute TV drama. Davis plays Benjamin Banneker, the self-taught African-American astronomer, surveyor and almanac author. Banneker accomplished all this in the late 18th and early 19th century, a time when most blacks were held in the grip of slavery. The story details Banneker's first few "free" years as a farmer, his correspondence with Thomas Jefferson, and his efforts to help fugitive slaves escape. Benjamin Banneker: The Man Who Loved the Stars was first telecast in February of 1989 over the CBN cable service.