Get ready for “Plume I: The Nominees Are” – an inside look at the inspiring story of Tonesa Welch, the First Lady of BMF.
WHO: Michelle Mitchenor (“First Wives Club”), Tobias Truvillion (“City On A Hill”), Tonesa Welch, and Judge Greg Mathis the stars and executive producers of the NAACP Image Awards‘ nominated film for Outstanding Television Movie, Limited-Series, or Dramatic Special, First Lady Of BMF:The Tonesa Welch Story.
Plume : honor | prowess | prize
WHAT: “Plume | The Nominees Are…“ is an awards conversation series created to increase Black, multicultural, and alternative media, awards’ season coverage. This virtual event is a moderated discussion with Q&A.
WHEN: Tuesday, February 20, 2024 at 2:30pm EST (11:30am PST)
WHERE: Zoom Webinar – MUST RSVP TO ATTEND
HOW: RSVP at DSDPublicity@att.net (confirmation required)
*Select media will be invited to ask questions; Screeners are available
SYNOPSIS: Inspired by the true story of Tonesa Welch (played by Michelle Mitchenor), “The First Lady of BMF” follows a young middle-class woman, raised in 1980s Detroit, who becomes seduced by the limelight and adventure of being in the drug game.
Dreams and desires, craftiness and creativity, hustle and hardwork, “The First Lady of BMF” is a story about riches, remorse, personal responsibility, and redemption set amidst the lavishness and extreme violence of Detroit’s crack era during America’s War on Drugs! Tonesa eventually meets H (played by Tobias Truvillion), an older, sophisticated head of a drug organization who showers her with gifts and gives her a taste of the good life she’s always dreamed about. Smart and attentive,
Tonesa attempts to prove to H she can handle being a part of “the game” by proposing a way for “them” to expand his business to a new market. Though her ideas are good, H is bothered by Tonesa’s ambition and tries to control her through violence. Just when the cycle of prosperity and abuse is about to break her spirit, H gets locked up and Tonesa forges a new path with a young, trusted confidante, Terry Flenory (known as Southwest T, played by Faith Malonte).
Over the next 10 years, the couple will expand their operations and build a drug empire with networks in Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, and Los Angeles. Together Tonesa and Southwest T find love, hussle drugs, and make music; that is until the Feds come knocking and it all comes crashing down. Entangled in a web of criminal conspiracy, Tonesa loses more than her empire and freedom, when her own son Marlon is also convicted and sentenced to prison.
Most of the stories told about how the Black Mafia Family (BMF), the largest and most successful Black crime organization in history, exist somewhere between myth and fantasy. Tonesa sets the record straight and tells Her-story, the TRUE history of why federal authorities in their indictment labeled her, Tonesah Welch: “The First Lady of BMF!”
#PlumeI #BMF #TonesaWelch
