mae louise walls miller documentary

One of the 20th-century slaves was Mae Louise Walls Miller and she didn't get her freedom until 1963. Our babies are dying, where are our friends? You know juneteenth but what about plantations that continued way into the 70s! External Reviews Her father tried to escape but was brought back to the farm where he was savagely beaten in front of his wife and children. Worrying that Mae would be killed by the owners, Cain beat his own daughter bloody in hopes of saving her. Sometimes, when we would be at an event where there was free food, she couldnt stop eating. More than 100 years after the Emancipation Proclamation, there were black people in the Deep South who had no idea they were free. Photo Source: Antionette Harrell. The nuances of Maes PTSD from growing up as a slave gave me a look into what life must have been like for many of our ancestors who were held under such inhumane conditions. In the 1970s, she became a glass-cutter. We ate like hogs. It all came together perfectly. Millers father tried to flee the property, but was caught by other landowners who returned him to the farm where he was brutally beaten in front of his family. Mae's father, Cain Wall, lost his land by signing a contract he couldnt read that had sealed his entire familys fate. - Mae Louise Walls Miller Historian and genealogist Antoinette Harrell has uncovered cases of African Americans still living as slaves 100 years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. I don't know who wrote the screenplay but it was powerful and dynamic. [4] Mae's sister Annie Wall recounted that "the whip would wrap around your body and knock you down". I can't say which movie because it would be a spoiler, but it came out in 2020 and it's awesome. Ron Walters, a political scientist who's an advocate for slavery reparations, also believes the Miller sisters' story. We couldn't have that. It is out of sight and out of mind for those who know slavery exists, he added. I love that history is finally being told and this time the Black people get to be the main character and hero of their own story. Only then did the Wall family learn that their peonage status had been illegal. "I just remember [Cain Sr.] was a jolly type, smiling every time I saw him." 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. in your inbox. Whatever it was, that's what you did for no money at all." 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.. Miller's father lost his . "[7][22], When contacted in 2007, a Gordon family member denied Miller's claims. They had become debtors to the plantation owner and as a result, could not leave the property. Millers father lost his land by signing a contract he could not read, which subsequently locked him and his family into a land peonage state. "But they told my brother they better come get me. The way he looked must have reminded Cain of someone from the farm. [12][15][17] They were repeatedly beaten by plantation owners,[18] often including whips or chains. This was a top-notch production with excellent acting all around, maybe especially Johnny, who was a truly good sport to take the meanie role. 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. 4/10 - I love Keke Palmer, but I'm unfortuantely afraid that this one turned out to be a rather huge miss in that it just was not in any way developed enough to be a full feature film and the arc just felt so lackluster. They still hold the power. Antoinette Harrell | All Rights Reserved. This is accurate maybe not exactly to this year but there was many situations where communities like this continued on pass when black people were given their freedom this movie doesn't deserve anything close to 4.4. Trivia. Alice is inspired by the very real-life history of Black Americans who remained enslaved after the Emancipation Proclamation. The trailer opens up with a wide-angle view of a colonial-looking house, eerie undertones reminiscent of Get Out and Jonny Lee Miller referring to the Black people sitting patiently as domestic livestock. After the show I prayed a lot and my dad had been wanting to do a documentary and God told me this is the documentary he ought to do, said Tobias Smith, who is also an independent hip hop recording artist. All Rights Reserved. [23] Harrell argued that "it just isn't worth the risk" to most former peons, so "most situations of this sort go unreported". Trying to fix that hierarchy isn't "bringing race into it." You are still on the plantation.. It grows on you. There's no excuse for it and I can't believe it was possible, well, I can believe, but you know What I truly can't believe are all the comments by people here claiming its all a bunch of "woke bs". People in denial I guess. ", "They beat us," Mae Miller said. Antionette Harrell, historian and genealogist working to uncover hidden stories of post Emancipation slavery in the Deep South We didnt know everybody wasnt living the same life that we were living. To most folks, it just isnt worth the risk. The acting and cinematography was top notch, the dialogue was simplistic but the story was was entertaining and meaningful. But we also see her explore her Black identity through the art, music and styles that political activist Frank (Common) introduces her to. I can't believe there were people who got away with slavery until my mothers generation here in America. Intrigued, Harrell accepted an invitation to her house where the group gathered and told Harrell their story of being enslaved on the Waterford Plantation in St. Charles, Louisiana. Every passing year, the workers fell deeper and deeper in debt. ), the trick to appreciating this one is to skip the first 30 mins (trust me!) [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. Then 18, Mae refused to do housework for another family in Kentwood, LA, and ran away after the owner threatened to kill her. Then the filmmakers were taken to Glendora, Miss., and Webb, Miss., where they said they saw and documented the existence of plantations. Badass. 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. A modern invention we werent quite ready to see but an instant snap back to reality, if ever there was one. But the vast majority of 20th-century slaves were of African descent. [4] However, her situation was hardly unique: White landowners used threats of violence worked with law enforcement to keep people in peonage. "So, I thought Dad could do something about that," she said. Also, Keke's presence and acting added the icing to the cake. "[12] The Wall family obtained their freedom in 1961, which is sometimes inaccurately given as 1962 or 1963. We had to go drink water out of the creek. There were other times she would need to take her shoes off. Harrell talked "to many [people] throughout Louisiana that was afraid for their lives, so they wouldn't talk about being held in slavery. 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". 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. The Millers' story came to light recently when Mae Miller walked into a workshop on the issue of slave reparations run by Antoinette Harrell-Miller, a genealogist. Maybe not EXACTLY this kind of thing but black people in the deep south were denied freedom well into the 20th century (as late as 1963). Other names that Mae uses includes Mae Louise Miller, Mae Louise Walls Miller, Mae Louise Walls Miller, Maelouise Walls Miller and Mae L Miller. [2]Mae Louise Miller (born Mae Louise Wall; August 24, 1943 2014) was an American woman who was kept in modern-day slavery, known as peonage, near Gillsburg, Mississippi and Kentwood, Louisiana until her family achieved freedom in early 1961. Her father, Cain, couldnt take the suffering anymore and tried to flee the property by himself in the middle of the night. The story is based on the very real history of black Americans still being enslaved even after the Emancipation Proclamation. ", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mae_Louise_Miller&oldid=1138785610, This page was last edited on 11 February 2023, at 16:18. According to the Smiths, there are many who know that slavery didn't end with the Emancipation Proclamation nearly 150 years ago. This situation had them living their lives as 20th-century slaves. I ran to a place even worse than where I were. 1. Alice is inspired by the very real-life history of Black Americans who remained enslaved after the Emancipation Proclamation. It was at one of these engagements that Harrell would be set off on the path which lead her to discoveries of hidden slavery into the 1960s. "Whatever it was, that's what you did for no money at all". Elements of the film's background are loosely based on the narrative of Mae Louise Walls Miller, who escaped from slavery in 1963. "You know, they did so much to us.". 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. Weaving reality with fiction making it a disturbing, yet entertaining movie. As a child, Miller would get sent up to the landowner's house on the. No cheesy and false unity. "[12] Mae said that they didn't know their peonage was illegal; "matter of fact, I thought everybody was living that way". These stories are more common than you think. Nearly five years after the Waterford meeting, however, Mae Louise Walls Miller of Mississippi told Harrell that she didn't get her freedom until 1963. Contact & Personal Details. So [peons] had no outlet to talk to anyone under peonage". . 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 most prominent example of this, on which the movie is based, is the life of Mae Louise Walls Miller. In 1994, I started to look into historical records and public records. Right, well the 2022 drama "Alice" starts off with 'inspired by true events'. [15] Historian Antoinette Harrell said that in some districts, "the sheriff, the constable, all of them work together. The 57-year-old Louisiana native has dedicated more than 20 years to peonage research. [7] The story inspired the 2022 film Alice. The upper class Blacks look at it and they are shocked, said Timothy Smith. Speaking to ABC News, Miller said: They beat us. My dad is 104. Most shocking of all was their fear. 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. 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. The Miller sisters and their father, hospitalized for the past several months after suffering a heart attack have joined a class action lawsuit in Chicago seeking reparations for the 35 million African-Americans who are descendants of slaves. If this "hi-concept" Hollywood lark were any more woke, the DVD would come with a free rooster. Culture Featured. Along with Mae Louise Miller, the film also features commentary from activist/comedian Dick Gregory, Harvard law professor Charles Ogletree and others. Owner's Details Name Age Location Mae Louise Miller 70s Kentwood, LA View Full Details Phone Numbers Landlines (7) (985) 229-9171 (985) 229-6933 Show 5 More I would like to know in what alternate part of the multiverse did writer and director Krystin Ver Linden believe that this was an actual thing. They were afraid to give this information to me, even behind closed doors decades later. Instead, they took him right back to the farm, where he was brutally beaten in front of his family. [21][19] Mae recounted that she was threatened with violence to keep this abuse secret from her father: "They told me, 'If you go down there and tell [your father, Cain Wall Sr.], we will kill him before the morning.' is there an ira and ruth levinson art museum, 3rd court of appeals candidates 2022, Also, Keke 's presence and acting added the icing to the landowner & # x27 ; s on... That slavery did n't end with the Emancipation Proclamation they told my brother they better come get.. When contacted in 2007, a political scientist who 's an advocate slavery!, there are many who know slavery exists, he added Miller.. Flee the property records and public records would need to take her off! Sent mae louise walls miller documentary to the plantation owner and as a child, Miller said: they beat us, '' Miller! `` I just remember [ Cain Sr. ] was a jolly type, smiling time... More woke, the DVD would come with a free rooster and as a,. 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