mae louise walls miller documentary

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Timothy Smith pointed out that the film gives meaning to the human experience and how most people are yet enslaved on one level or another. If this "hi-concept" Hollywood lark were any more woke, the DVD would come with a free rooster. The story has a couple of great fantasies: people from old times shocked at technology, plus punishing slave owners. One day a woman familiar with my work approached me and said, Antoinette, I know a group of people who didnt receive their freedom until the 1950s. She had me over to her house where I met about 20 people, all who had worked on the Waterford Plantation in St. Charles Parish, Louisiana. As a young girl, Mae didn't know that her family's situation was. When I saw the movie poster, then went to see the flick, the first act of the movie did not match what the poster was telling me this was going to be. 8.3 1 h 34 min 2020 18+. The elder Smith said talking about the documentary and pre-showings of the film revealed that a significant number of people know firsthand, based on having family members still on the plantations, or themselves growing up in slavery but choose to remain silent. The truth is Alice found her worth and it was realistic in the sense that the minds of the oppressors didn't change. Summary. The upper class Blacks look at it and they are shocked, said Timothy Smith. Trivia. "They treated the dogs a whole lot better than they treated us. I know the movie did not explain how Alice was able to transcend time, or how she was able to get the different characters to cross back and forth from the 1800s to 1973, but wasn't it wonderful to see how powerful black women would be if they had a fighting and equal chance. Antoinette Harrell | All Rights Reserved. Mae's father, Cain Wall, lost his land by signing a contract he could not read. They still hold the power. So, sadly, most situations of this sort go unreported. Allegedly "inspired" by a true story (? In 2008, she unearthed the story of Mae Louise Walls Miller, who was kept in modern-day slavery until 1963although the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 should have freed her family. I am glad her brother Arthur is continuing to tell the Walls family story. So the poor and disenfranchised really dont have anywhere to share these injustices without fearing major repercussions. Strong people. But he was picked up by some folks claiming they would help him. A doctor told Mae that she was infertile, possibly from being raped. The younger Smith said they reached out to Ms. Miller with their intentions, and decided doing the film was not economic-driven but was a mission.. It is very unfortunate that most people still live in the past with jealousy, greed and control over others but I do have hope that someday it will change once we all do the much needed work to evolve. They'll kill us.' Where did they go? I can't believe there were people who got away with slavery until my mothers generation here in America. "[3] Annie Wall recounted that the plantation owners said "you better not tell because we'll kill 'em, kill all of you, you n****rs". No matter if you are Black or White you will see yourself in the documentary, said Mr. Smith. The school to prison pipeline and private penitentiaries are just a few of the new ways to guarantee that black people provide free labor for the system at large. . Or more than likely I just wasn't taught the truth on this, like with so many other aspects of American History! original sound. Seeing my ancestors perceived value written on a piece of paper changed me. Her father, Cain Wall, lost his land by signing a contract he couldn't read that. Elements of the film's background are loosely based on the narrative of Mae Louise Walls Miller, who escaped from slavery in 1963. Mae's father was tricked into. I knew him to be good people, good folks, Christian. Mae Wall, the five-year-old girl did not lose her hunger to be free. Even after Millers death in 2014, Harrell does not believe that Millers family is the last family to face such a fate in the Deep South. We had to go drink water out of the creek. African American field hands "choppin' cotton" under the hot sun of the Mississippi Delta. Durwood Gordon, who was younger than 12 when the Wall family worked on the Gordon farm, claimed that the family worked for his uncle Willie Gordon (d. 1950s) and cousin William Gordon (d. 1991). The story is based on the very real history of black Americans still being enslaved even after the Emancipation Proclamation. The lady on the cart saw the bush moving. He cited his colleagues in the media industry who choose to focus on partying and frivolity, fearful of taking on a serious issue such as slavery in modern America. The family kept me away for a while after that. That filthy patch of water where the cows pissed and shit was the same water that Mae and her family drank and bathed in. Historian and genealogist Antoinette Harrell uncovered the story of Miller, who passed away in 2014, and her familys past when she walked into a workshop Harrell was running on the issue of slave reparations back in the early 2000s. This is the shocking true story its inspired by. She was held as a slave in Gillsburg, Miss., and escaped to Kentwood, La. A few times we sat together with Mae and the other siblings. Mae walked in after the lecture was over, demanding to speak with me. No cheesy and false unity. Justice Department records tell of prosecutions, well into the 20th century, of whites who continued to keep blacks in "involuntary servitude," coercing them with threats on their lives, exploiting their ignorance of life and the laws beyond the plantation where they were born. Through her work, she's unearthed painful stories in Southern states like Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas,. I ran to a place even worse than where I were. According to the Smiths, there are many who know that slavery didn't end with the Emancipation Proclamation nearly 150 years ago. It's just not a good movie. It was clear they had never shared their individual stories with one another. One way or another, they had become indebted to the plantations owner and were not allowed to leave the property. Worrying that Mae would be killed by the owners, Cain beat his own daughter bloody in hopes of saving her. [12], Mae alleges that, starting at 5 years old, she was repeatedly raped along with her mother by the white men of the Gordon family. Alan Dershowitz, Police traffic stops in nations capital disproportionately target Blacks, A Call to Action to address Covid-19 in Black Chicago, KOBE: His Life, Legend and Legacy of Excellence, About Harriett and the Negro Hollywood Road Show, Skepticism greets Jay-Z, NFL talk of inspiring change, The painful problem of Black girls and suicide, Exploitation of Innocence - Report: Perceptions, policies hurting Black girls, Big Ballin: Big ideas fuel a fathers Big Baller Brand and brash business sense, Super Predators: How American Science Created Hillarys Young Black Thugs, Pt. "[7][22], When contacted in 2007, a Gordon family member denied Miller's claims. Anyone else wonder how they explained airplanes to the slaves? According to a series of interviews published by Vice, historian and genealogist Antionette Harrell has uncovered long-hidden cases of Black people who were still living as slaves a century past the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. Pretty pathetic. Alan Dershowitz, Police traffic stops in nations capital disproportionately target Blacks, A Call to Action to address Covid-19 in Black Chicago, KOBE: His Life, Legend and Legacy of Excellence, About Harriett and the Negro Hollywood Road Show, Skepticism greets Jay-Z, NFL talk of inspiring change, The painful problem of Black girls and suicide, Exploitation of Innocence - Report: Perceptions, policies hurting Black girls, Big Ballin: Big ideas fuel a fathers Big Baller Brand and brash business sense, Super Predators: How American Science Created Hillarys Young Black Thugs, Pt. Alice was fine. "[7] For Mae, telling her story brought relief: "It might bring some shame to the family, but it's not a big dark secret anymore. You can get all of our newest stories and updates on BYP research At the end of the harvest, this group was always told they did not make any profit, and were told they had to try again next year. Poorly-made in most aspects. As Mae Miller tells it, she spent her youth in Mississippi as a slave, "picking cotton, pulling corn, picking peas, picking butter beans, picking string beans, digging potatoes. No matter if you are Black or White you will see yourself in the documentary, said Mr. Smith. He said, 'Baby, don't run away. Harrell talked "to many [people] throughout Louisiana that was afraid for their lives, so they wouldn't talk about being held in slavery. They didnt feed us. Miller and her family didnt know what was happening around them as they had no TV or access to the outside world something thats also explored throughout Alice. [3], No legal documentation has yet been found to document the atrocities that Mae describes. The 57-year-old Louisiana native has dedicated more than 20 years to peonage research. Smithsonian Institution historian Pete Daniel noted that "white people had the power to hold blacks down, and they weren't afraid to use it -- and they were brutal". We didnt know everybody wasnt living the same life that we were living. [3] [4] [5] It was a perfectly enjoyable film. The Smiths said the areas are isolated, deep inland from main roads and far away from civilization, where plantation owners do what they want. I met with Jordan Brewington and Read More >>, Antoinette Harrell is available for speaking engagements and lectures about the subjects Read More >>, Antoinette Harrell has spent countless hours in the National Archives in Read More >>. Its a story of discovery, pride and consciousness as much as it is a thriller about enslavement, race and oppression. Soon enough people started requesting that I come and speak about how I was uncovering my familys story so they could do the same for themselves. As a young girl, Mae didnt know that her familys situation was different from anyone elses. So [peons] had no outlet to talk to anyone under peonage". This Louisiana funeral home is rediscovering it", "The Cotton Pickin TruthStill on the Plantation trailer", "The Hard Truth - Black history: Stolen stories", "Is the Movie 'Alice' Based on a True Story? I can't believe that I had no idea that this crap went on until the 1960's! Alice will be available to watch in UK cinemas nationwide on 18 March. "I believe it because it is plausible," Walters said. Hurling truth at Falsehood Nation of Islam responds to lies of Atty. (FinalCall.com) - Mae Louise Miller grew up in chattel slavery working from plantation to plantation for White owners in the South where her family picked . I truly enjoyed this movie. Yes, slavery still exists in 2010 in Mississippi and Louisiana, says Timothy Arden Smith, who captured the story in a soon to be released documentary called The Cotton Pickin' Truth Still on the Plantation, which will premiere Sept. 23 at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African-American History in Detroit. That white family took her in and rescued the rest of the Walls later that night. Alice is an upcoming revenge thriller film starring Keke Palmer as an enslaved woman who escapes and finds out shes transported to the year 1973. Antoinette Harrell | All Rights Reserved. "You know, I told him, said, 'I'm gonna run away again.' Start a discussion Categories: B-Class AfC articles Keke Palmer was always such a great actress (fun fact, she's four days younger than me). By signing up, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy & to receive electronic communications from Vice Media Group, which may include marketing promotions, advertisements and sponsored content. "[12] Mae suggested that they don't want to relive their experiences, and "they don't wanna carry they minds back there. [4] Mae's sister Annie Wall recounted that "the whip would wrap around your body and knock you down". They believed that they might somehow get sent back to a plantation that wasnt even operating anymore. [15] The Wall family was forced to do fieldwork and housework for several white families attending the same church on the Louisiana-Mississippi border: the Gordon family, the McDaniel family, and the Wall family (no relation). Mae's father Cain Wall lost his land by signing a contract he couldn't read that had sealed his entire family's fate. Now she not only believes the story, she has become something of a guardian angel in Mae Miller's life. "[7] Ron Walters, a scholar of African-American politics, noted that letters archived by the NAACP "tell us that in a lot of these places, that [people] were kept in bondage or semi-bondage conditions in the 20th century [in] out-of-the way places, certainly where the law authorities didn't pay much attention to what was going on. Sign up for our newsletter to get the best of VICE delivered to your inbox daily. ", Mae Miller said she didn't run away because, "What could you run to?". This has to be true. We thought this was just for the black folks.. The elder Smith said talking about the documentary and pre-showings of the film revealed that a significant number of people know firsthand, based on having family members still on the plantations, or themselves growing up in slavery but choose to remain silent. I didn't have any expectations, so the switch about a third of the way in was a stun and it got better- way better than M. Night's story (his all have disappointing endings), which had similarities but wasn't the same. | Alice is inspired by the very real-life history of Black Americans who remained enslaved after the Emancipation Proclamation. [3][4][5], Mae's story was unearthed when she spoke to historian Antoinette Harrell,[6] who highlighted it in the short documentary The Untold Story: Slavery in the 20th Century. The beginning third is a cringeful reminder about American slavery (which btw has been going on throughout human history with all kinds of different races, not only black people, and which America helped to end worldwide). The film is director Krystin Ver Lindens debut, and also stars Gaius Charles and Alicia Witt. | Metacritic Reviews. We had to go drink water out of the creek. Copyright, 2019 The Final Call, FCN Publishing, Activists charge environmental poisoning and silent homicide in San Francisco, President spews more incendiary rhetoric as election draws closer, Covid-19 and the divine chastisement of Florida. To begin kudos to everyone who saw the vision to bring this film to life. Of water where the cows pissed and shit was the same life that we were living and were not to. Paper changed me doctor told Mae that she was infertile, possibly being! Of Atty wasnt living the same water that Mae would be killed by the very real-life history Black! 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Walls family story was just for the Black folks demanding to speak with me away for a while after.! Held as a young girl, Mae didnt know everybody wasnt living the life. To anyone under peonage '' is continuing to tell the Walls family.! The same life that we were living the Black folks '' by a true its! Recounted that `` the whip would wrap around your body and knock you ''... Any more woke, the DVD would come with a free rooster lot better than treated! Director Krystin Ver Lindens debut, and escaped to Kentwood, La of water the! You down '' tricked into no matter if you are Black or White you see...

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