Davis, a two-time Tony Award winner (for King Hedley II and Fences), is also planning to repeat her performance as Rose in a film version of the play opposite Denzel Washington, as previously reported by Playbill.com.

Davis mentioned the Jordan project in passing in an interview with Variety about her Emmy win for her performance in ABC’s "How to Get Away With Murder."

The interview states, "In the pipeline are projects about civil rights activist and congresswoman Barbara Jordan, to be directed by Tony Kushner; and Vee-Jay Records, which preceded Motown."

Jordan (1936-1996) made history as the first African American elected to the Texas State Senate since Reconstruction, the first Southern African American woman elected to Congress, and the first African American woman to deliver a keynote address at a Democratic Party national convention. She was mentioned as a possible vice presidential running mate for Jimmy Carter that year, and got one vote to nominate her for president at the convention. 

Kushner is best known for his play Angels in America, which won the Pulitzer Prize. Each of its two parts, Millennium Approaches and Perestorika, won Tony Awards for Best Play. He wrote the screenplay for Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln." No further details about the project were mentioned in the story.

Click here to see Playbill.com's story about Denzel Washington's plans to film August Wilson's "Century Cycle" of plays about African-American history in the 20th century.