The Keke Palmer-led film may seem like it follows an intricately crafted and ludicrous plotline but actually, its inspired by very real-life events. External Reviews It is out of sight and out of mind for those who know slavery exists, he added. How wonderful it would be to tell all of the people that belittled you and told you that you were nothing.if you could show them what you can do!!! We want to make people aware about what's going on so we can stop what's going on, Tobias Smith said. I don't want to tell nobody.". She was a fearless beautiful spirit and has left a gigantic void. "[12] The Wall family obtained their freedom in 1961, which is sometimes inaccurately given as 1962 or 1963. 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. [4], Annie Wall suggested that shame prevented former peons from coming forward: "Why would you want to tell anybody that you was raped over and all that kind of mess? Start a discussion Categories: B-Class AfC articles We didn't eat like dogs because they do bring a dog to a certain place to feed dogs. She was highlighted in Harrell's short documentary . I knew there wasn't anyone who could help me. Krystin Ver Linden, Writer/Director needs unlimited budgets from now on! We knew our family had once been slaves in Louisiana. 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). Since that time, Harrell has continued her research and documenting their story. [4][12][13] Mae stated to NPR that "maybe I wasn't free, but maybe it can free somebody else. 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. 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 >>. [8][9][10][11], In 2003, Mae and all six of her siblings joined a class action lawsuit seeking reparations to descendants of enslaved people from several private companies with lawyer Deadria Farmer-Paellmann. Elements of the film's background are loosely based on the narrative of Mae Louise Walls Miller, who escaped from slavery in 1963. "So, I thought Dad could do something about that," she said. [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. She and her family were unaware that things had changed, as they had no TV or other access to the outside world; they just assumed their situation was like that for all black people. Miller and her sister Annie's tale of bondage ended in the '60s not the 1860s, when slaves officially were freed after the Civil War, but the 1960s. "I remember thinking they're just going to have to kill me today, because I'm not doing this anymore. Sign up for our newsletter to get the best of VICE delivered to your inbox daily. 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. Alice was fine. In 1994, I started to look into historical records and public records. Speaking to ABC News, Miller said: They beat us. [15], In 1963, Mae married Wallace Miller and sought to start a family. Vice Modern Day Plantation Life in the 1960s https://bit.ly/2oLk64j, The Selma Times Journal Mae Louise Wall Miller https://bit.ly/30xWcty, People Magazine Mae Louise Wall Miller https://bit.ly/2NTIccb, The Root The Arthur Wall Story https://bit.ly/2JFk2g9, The Daily Press Woman to Discuss Her Time Being Enslaved https://bit.ly/2Shf5xP. Alice is inspired by the very real-life history of Black Americans who remained enslaved after the Emancipation Proclamation. When Louise Mae Miller was born on 7 April 1923, in Allen, Ohio, United States, her father, Marion Henry Miller, was 30 and her mother, Mary Edith Hess, was 28. [3] [4] [5] Her father, Cain Wall, lost his land by signing a contract he couldn't read that. We didnt know everybody wasnt living the same life that we were living. Even worse, the concept is copied from another recent movie which is executed significantly better in every way. The most prominent example of this, on which the movie is based, is the life of Mae Louise Walls Miller. Mae died in 2014. [15] Historian Antoinette Harrell said that in some districts, "the sheriff, the constable, all of them work together. Through her work, she's unearthed painful stories in Southern states like Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas,. The 57-year-old Louisiana native has dedicated more than 20 years to peonage research. I took a lot of garbage there all the time. We thought this was just for the black folks.. Each time she repeated a story, I felt like she was trying to give me a message. We ate like hogs.. . Whatever it was, that's what you did for no money at all." "They beat us," Mae Miller said. One of the 20th-century slaves was Mae Louise Walls Miller and she didn't get her freedom until 1963. [4] Peons couldn't leave their owner's land without permission,[4] which made it nearly impossible for them to pay their debt. 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). Its time travel at its most hopeful, something Palmer recently commented on in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. 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. More than 100 years after the Emancipation Proclamation, there were black people in the Deep South who had no idea they were free. The way he looked must have reminded Cain of someone from the farm. Mae's father, Cain Wall, lost his land by signing a contract he could not read. And the retro vibe revisiting the 70s (which honestly may be lost on current filmgoers) actually works more often than it fails. ", Mae Miller said she didn't run away because, "What could you run to?". You don't tell. 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. The way the movie ended seemed like Alice was playing the lady from the movie "Coffy" they went and seen lol. ", Second Consolidated and Amended Complaint and Jury Demand, "Black People in the US Were Enslaved Well into the 1960s", "Some Black Americans Were Still Living in Chattel Slavery 100 Years After Emancipation Proclamation, Historian Discovers", "The enslaved black people of the 1960s who did not know slavery had ended", "Research shows slaves remained on Killona plantation until 1970s", "Black People Were Enslaved in the US Until as Recently as 1963", "Is Anyone Shocked That Slavery Continued a Century After Emancipation? This Country was built by Black people and we made a lot of money for the white people. Worrying that Mae would be killed by the owners, Cain beat his own daughter bloody in hopes of saving her. As a result of the film's exposure to many dedicated Mississippians, the state of Mississippi ratified the 13th . Trying to fix that hierarchy isn't "bringing race into it." "I just remember [Cain Sr.] was a jolly type, smiling every time I saw him." The sisters say that's how it happened them. I knew him to be good people, good folks, Christian. The 70s were characterized perfectly, the acting was great, it was an interesting storyline, and it felt like a movie made in the 70s. My mother always talked to me about our family history and the family members who had passed on. You can get all of our newest stories and updates on BYP research Where did they go? Word started spreading around New Orleans about how I was using genealogy to connect the dots of a lost history. Awards 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. 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.. Who would you go to? "You know, I told him, said, 'I'm gonna run away again.' It was like she was trying to tell me that if I wanted to know more about who we were, I would have to dig deeper. Something in her soul told her she was no longer a slave. This cycle kept them on the land and some of those people were tied to that tract of land until the 1960s. The film is director Krystin Ver Lindens debut, and also stars Gaius Charles and Alicia Witt. [4] Mae's sister Annie Wall recounted that "the whip would wrap around your body and knock you down". To anyone that thinks this is an "alternate reality" piece though, this kind of thing happened. [12] Mae recalled that the plantation owners "have the capability of killing you" and that "we had been beat so much and had been threatened so many times you really didn't know who to tell. Through her work, she's unearthed painful stories in Southern states like Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Florida. 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. Miller told her about how she and her mother were raped and beaten when they went to the main house to work. [4] Peon owners used the violent coercion akin to that of slavery to force black people to work off imagined debts with unpaid labor. Hurling truth at Falsehood Nation of Islam responds to lies of Atty. She walked up, looked me in the eye, and stated, I didnt get my freedom until 1963.. All Rights Reserved. The 57-year-old Louisiana native has dedicated more than 20 years to peonage research. Some Black people in the Southern states remained enslavedwell into the 1960s. Only then did the Wall family learn that their peonage status had been illegal. | "They didn't feed us. To begin kudos to everyone who saw the vision to bring this film to life. Mae calls Kentwood, LA, home. She told Vice: Do I believe Maes family was the last to be freed? 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. Alice is inspired by the very real-life history of Black Americans who remained enslaved after the Emancipation Proclamation. There is nothing that can be done to me that hasnt already been done.. the story of Mae Louise Walls Miller. Slavery will continue to redefine itself for African Americans for years to come. What can any living person do to me? They were afraid to give this information to me, even behind closed doors decades later. . Only mistake these folks made was putting a black face on the cover and-- 'boom!' SO WHAT!!! The only fact that seemed certain was that slavery ended with the passing of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. What did they do after Emancipation in 1863? Here she would be raped by whatever men were present. Right, well the 2022 drama "Alice" starts off with 'inspired by true events'. To most folks, it just isnt worth the risk. "She said, 'I have to tell you my story. They told me they had worked the fields for most of their lives. I fully sympathize with the struggle depicted in this movie. He has some stories that he can tell you when we were still held in slavery,' " Harrell-Miller recalled.At first, Harrell-Miller needed some convincing, but, "When I looked at the living conditions of the family, I understood very clearly how it's possible for people to live like that. But the people told my brothers, they go, 'You better go get her.' The film uncovers modern-day slavery in the Mississippi Delta in 2009. The story is based on the very real history of black Americans still being enslaved even after the Emancipation Proclamation. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? Historian and genealogist Antoinette Harrell has uncovered cases of African Americans still living as slaves 100 years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. TikTok video from BitchinMini (@bitchinmini): "#duet with @directordaddy". They feel this is not going on we have a Black president.' Mae's father Cain Wall lost his land by signing a contract he couldn't read that had sealed his entire family's fate. Annie Miller was frightened to discuss the experience her family left behind 42 years ago. Then 18, Mae refused to do housework for another family in Kentwood, LA, and ran away after the owner threatened to kill her. They feel this is not going on we have a Black president.' Yeah, sure. original sound. Then the filmmakers were taken to Glendora, Miss., and Webb, Miss., where they said they saw and documented the existence of plantations. Youd be forgiven for thinking the movie is set before the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 but actually, thats part of the intrigue of this trailer. [15], Last edited on 11 February 2023, at 16:18, reparations to descendants of enslaved people from several private companies, "Segregation erased generations of Black history. Metacritic Reviews. Although, some of the supporting actors need abit more acting experience but overall, it was a good story whether it is true or not. That white family took her in and rescued the rest of the Walls later that night. "But they told my brother they better come get me. Harrell was giving a lecture on genealogy and reparations in Louisiana when she first met Mae Louise Walls Miller. If this "hi-concept" Hollywood lark were any more woke, the DVD would come with a free rooster. Still On The Plantation is a documentary film that calls for the re-writing of American history as we know it. Culture Featured. I don't think there are any specifics that the film doesn't advertise in the trailer or descriptions, though I do believe they should have found a better way to market it that would create more intrigue. A doctor told Mae that she was infertile, possibly from being raped. African American field hands "choppin' cotton" under the hot sun of the Mississippi Delta. Along with Mae Louise Miller, the film also features commentary from activist/comedian Dick Gregory, Harvard law professor Charles Ogletree and others. How would they have functioned without THE BLACK WOMEN?? [8][14], Historian Antoinette Harrell believes that Miller's father Cain Wall lost his own farmland after he signed a contract that he could not read which indebted him to a local plantation owner. The acting and cinematography was top notch, the dialogue was simplistic but the story was was entertaining and meaningful. He was 107 years old, but his mind was still incredibly sharp. 515 views |. Slavery might have ended on paper after the Civil War, but many white landowners did Read More >> Plantation Records. We couldnt have that.. I don't know who wrote the screenplay but it was powerful and dynamic. I could never imagine going through something like that. This has to be true. "[3] In 2004, a judge dropped the lawsuit. Along with Mae Louise Miller, the film also features commentary from activist/comedian Dick Gregory, Harvard law professor Charles Ogletree and others. I don't want to tell you. "[12] Mae said that they didn't know their peonage was illegal; "matter of fact, I thought everybody was living that way". [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. Mae's father was tricked into. There was no fake racial reconciliation story of different cultures finally uniting and the white racists changing their ways. 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. Weaving reality with fiction making it a disturbing, yet entertaining movie. Instead, they took him right back to the farm, where he was brutally beaten in front of his family. Cain believed that because he had told me what happened on the farm that the man on the TV was going to come to his house and drag him back. I can't believe there were people who got away with slavery until my mothers generation here in America. Keke Palmer was always such a great actress (fun fact, she's four days younger than me). There's a lot of people out there that's really enslaved and don't know how to get out. Seeing my ancestors perceived value written on a piece of paper changed me. Every passing year, the workers fell deeper and deeper in debt. I told you my story because I have no fear in my heart. Reading some of the reviews here after watching this movie I followed someone's comment suggesting people look into Mae Louise Miller if they wanted proof that this could have happened and I was shocked. One major example of 20th century enslaved people is the case of Mae. Wow! Who cares if it's a somewhat rip off of another movie.. if it's entertaining it doesn't matter. I'm not sure you can call it good because it either needed more time to develop or less time spent developing. The property goes from can't see to to can't see. 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. "We thought everybody was in the same predicament," Mae Miller said. Mae Miller is 79 years old and was born on 08/24/1943. She was held as a slave in Gillsburg, Miss., and escaped to Kentwood, La. Harrell reveals that a lot of these kinds of stories are still not told because of this established fear of repercussion. 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. While we cant wait to watch the movie for ourself once its released on 18 March,Alicedoes highlight important true events that, until now, have often been left untold. There were unusual ticks she had from her upbringing. In the process of interviewing Ms. Miller about her life as a 20th century slave in America, the Smiths learned from her that slavery was still being practiced in Mississippi and Louisiana today. The landline phone number 9852296933 is registered to Mae Louise Miller in Kentwood, LA at 203 Avenue D. Explore the listing below to find Mae's address, relatives, and other public records. No matter if you are Black or White you will see yourself in the documentary, said Mr. Smith. [12][15][17] They were repeatedly beaten by plantation owners,[18] often including whips or chains. Antoinette Harrell | All Rights Reserved. Glad I didn't let negative reviews deter me from watching this movie; the director did a good job telling this story with the camera, the movie never drag or became boring. [3], No legal documentation has yet been found to document the atrocities that Mae describes. User Ratings The upper class Blacks look at it and they are shocked, said Timothy Smith. A modern invention we werent quite ready to see but an instant snap back to reality, if ever there was one. If you tried to get Continue Reading, Johnny Lee Gaddy-ABC Action News In the process of interviewing Ms. Miller about her life as a 20th century slave in America, the Smiths learned from her that slavery was still being practiced in Mississippi and Louisiana today. 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. #peonage #slavery #Aboriginal #Israelites #Deuteronomy #blm #slavery #truthfullyhonest #cancelled community #Ghana #Africa #Karen 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. 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. 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? We thought everybody was in the same predicament. 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. Ignore these jive talkin' reviewers, man; Alice is all-right. 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. [4] The Wall family was not paid in money or in kind with food: "They beat us. One way or another, they had become indebted to the plantations owner and were not allowed to leave the property. 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. People often ask, "Why bring race into it?" There were also Polish, Hungarian, and Italian immigrants, as well other nationalities, who got caught up in these situations in the American South. Superb! (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 . They came [and] got me and they brought me back. 2023 Black Youth Project. This movie got me fired up in the best way. I tracked down Freedmen contracts of the Harrell side of my family that proved that they were sharecroppers. ", "They beat us," Mae Miller said. ABCNEWS' John Donvan contributed to this report. There were several times when I returned to the property where Mae and her family were held. Still, I'm surprised by the low score on this movie. Who would you want to tell? I couldnt believe what I was hearing. Mae was 18. She married John William Herrin on 21 June 1904, in Alton, Madison, Illinois, United States. They didn't feed us. The National Guard was deployed in Atlanta, what does this mean as shootings, violence plague other American cities? Keke Palmer, who looks and talks a lot like the current lead in Star Trek Discovery, goes above and beyond the call of duty here, trying to sell a story with plot holes big enough to absorb a Dwarf Star. 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. Over a series of interviews, she told Justin Fornal about how she became an expert of modern slavery in the United States. . Their story, which ABCNEWS has not confirmed independently, is not unheard of. The Thriller Blends Fiction With Reality", "How Keke Palmer found power and hope in the story of a woman's escape from slavery in the 1970s", "Alice: Keke Palmer stars in this upcoming revenge thriller but do you know the shocking true story it's inspired by? It also set forth the direction of my life. [12] Harrell believes the family suffered PTSD from their experiences. When I met Mae, her father Cain was still alive. When Mae was about 14, she decided she would no longer go up to the house. She was hiding in the bushes by the road when a family rode by with their mule cart. Ms. Miller was enslaved until 1961 and there is evidence of slavery today in different parts of America's South. His plan was to register for the army and get stationed far away. These people were forced to work, violently tortured, and raped. That said, there is an underlying emotional charge to this odd tale that actually deserves an audience. Her father, Cain, couldnt take the suffering anymore and tried to flee the property by himself in the middle of the night. Honestly I have to say I'm shocked by how atrociously low this movie is being rated. Ill never forget the look in their eyes when one would speak about a horror they endured. Antoinette Harrell | All Rights Reserved. [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.' The Cotton Pickin' Truth. He said, 'Baby, don't run away. "[4], Mae said she didn't run for a long time because, "What could you run to? The lady on the cart saw the bush moving. You can use this page to start a discussion with others about how to improve the "Mae Louise Miller" page. She only knew so many stories, so oftentimes she would tell the same ones over and over again. Her family pleaded with her as the punishment would come down on all of them. As we stood together looking into the water Maes words were forever seared into my soul. 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.. According to the Smiths, there are many who know that slavery didn't end with the Emancipation Proclamation nearly 150 years ago. Mae Louise Walls Miller and Deacon Can Walls, Sr.: funeral programs, obituaries and meeting agenda, 2008 Scope and Contents From the Series: The Genealogy Research files consist of primary documents pertaining to Harrell's research on family history as well as collected research resources. 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.

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