Harriet Tubman

As Viola Davis once said, "The only thing that separates women of color from anyone else is opportunity."

'Harriet' screenwriter and producer, Gregory Allen Howard, revealed a studio executive told him "nobody would notice" Harriet Tubman wasn't a white woman when he first started working on the film in 1994.

The screenwriter of the long-gestating "Harriet" says a studio executive wanted Roberts, a white woman, to play the black civil rights pioneer.

"They stated that they will try to get us a response this week or next week, but gave no firm commitments," a spokesperson for Pressley told Newsweek.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin delayed Obama-era plans to include Tubman, a former slave and hero of the abolitionist movement, until 2028 when President Donald Trump would be out of office due to "counterfeiting issues."

"Secretary Mnuchin has allowed Trump's racism and misogyny to prevent him from carrying out the will of the people," she said.

"No one in this Administration is doing their job," she said. "They continue to stonewall, to obstruct, and to ignore the will of the American people.

Critics say racism and misogyny account for the slowdown. "This is an attempt to make fragile white people comfortable," tweeted Charlotte Clymer, a communications representative for the Human Rights Campaign.

The redesigned bill was supposed to be unveiled next year but has been delayed until 2028.

"I freed a thousand slaves I could have freed a thousand more if only they knew they were slaves. - Harriet Tubman," West tweeted.

"I was the conductor of the Underground Railroad for eight years, and I can say what most conductors can't say; I never ran my train off the track and I never lost a passenger."

Alongside fellow feminists Opal Tometi and Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza co founded Black Lives Matter, a project sparked by the deaths of Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown.

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin put into question Obama-era plans to feature abolitionist Harriet Tubman on the $20 banknote.

The reimagined bills will undergo dramatic changes that reflect the diversity and history of America.

The anti-slavery campaigner represented the common women and men who contributed to the making of America.

How likely is it that a woman will appear on paper money in the U.S. by 2020?