[4][12][13] Mae stated to NPR that "maybe I wasn't free, but maybe it can free somebody else. 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. Each time she repeated a story, I felt like she was trying to give me a message. Seeing my ancestors perceived value written on a piece of paper changed me. 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). Its a story of discovery, pride and consciousness as much as it is a thriller about enslavement, race and oppression. That white family took her in and rescued the rest of the Walls later that night. According to a series of interviews published by. Relatives & Associates. The 57-year-old Louisiana native has dedicated more than 20 years to peonage research. That filthy patch of water where the cows pissed and shit was the same water that Mae and her family drank and bathed in. 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). It also set forth the direction of my life. 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. the story of Mae Louise Walls Miller. . [4] The Wall family was not paid in money or in kind with food: "They beat us. Her family pleaded with her as the punishment would come down on all of them. A documentary on modern day slavery. [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. It is out of sight and out of mind for those who know slavery exists, he added. She didn't get her freedom until 1961, when she ran away from the plantation and found a family that rescued her and her family. Annie Miller was frightened to discuss the experience her family left behind 42 years ago. We want to make people aware about what's going on so we can stop what's going on, Tobias Smith said. Several months later, Harrell would meet a woman named Mae Louise Walls Miller who didn't receive her freedom until 1963. [15] Historian Antoinette Harrell said that in some districts, "the sheriff, the constable, all of them work together. At the end of the harvest, when they tried to settle up with the owner, they were always told they didn't make it into the black and to try again next year. So, I didn't try it no more.". Mae's father Cain Wall lost his land by signing a contract he couldn't read that had sealed his entire family's fate. 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. We thought this was just for the black folks. There's a lot of people out there that's really enslaved and don't know how to get out. "[4] In early 1961, an aunt of Mae's from northern Alabama "sneaked us away" on a "horse and wagon" and helped them to relocate. A trailer for the film can be viewed at http://www.theprofitmusic.com. [4] Peon owners used the violent coercion akin to that of slavery to force black people to work off imagined debts with unpaid labor. It was a brutal catharsis for them to speak about what happened on that farm. [12][15][17] They were repeatedly beaten by plantation owners,[18] often including whips or chains. Ill never forget the look in their eyes when one would speak about a horror they endured. She had grown up not wearing shoes and said sometimes her feet felt uncomfortable when she wore them. To anyone that thinks this is an "alternate reality" piece though, this kind of thing happened. We had to go drink water out of the creek. The upper class Blacks look at it and they are shocked, said Timothy Smith. 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? The Smiths said the areas are isolated, deep inland from main roads and far away from civilization, where plantation owners do what they want. 2022 is already shaping up to be the year of impeccable film and, off the back of its success at this years Sundance Film Festival, Alice has just released a new trailer and its safe to say its firmly grabbed our attention. These people were forced to work, violently tortured, and raped. Carrie and her child Thomas had been appraised at $1,100. . "It's the worst I ever heard of, so I don't know what you name it," Annie Miller said. Something in her soul told her she was no longer a slave. This is the shocking true story its inspired by. Instead, Mae adopted four children. This is a story about a black woman who had been tricked and tormented in every way possible, fought, ran, acquired knowledge and rescued her friends. No cheesy and false unity. As a young girl, Mae didn't know that her family's situation was. A notable case is Mae Louise Wall Miller, who wasn't granted freedom until 1963. One day I walked with Mae deep into the woods to see the old green creek she always spoke about. Then the filmmakers were taken to Glendora, Miss., and Webb, Miss., where they said they saw and documented the existence of plantations. As a child, Miller would get sent up to the landowner's house on the. Mae's father, Cain Wall, lost his land by signing a contract he could not read. They were the parents of at least 2 sons and 3 daughters. But we also see her explore her Black identity through the art, music and styles that political activist Frank (Common) introduces her to. Worrying that Mae would be killed by the owners, Cain beat his own daughter bloody in hopes of saving her. You know juneteenth but what about plantations that continued way into the 70s! I told you my story because I have no fear in my heart. Our babies are dying, where are our friends? Antoinette Harrell | All Rights Reserved. [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. To most folks, it just isnt worth the risk. We had to go drink water out of the creek. [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. "[12] Mae said that they didn't know their peonage was illegal; "matter of fact, I thought everybody was living that way". A Vice article and corresponding documentary tell the tale of the family and many others who have lived a horror such as this. The family didnt have TV, so Mae just assumed everyone lived the same way her brothers and sisters did. We had to go drink water out of the creek. "[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. 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. Most times she and her mother were raped simultaneously alongside each other. According to the Smiths, there are many who know that slavery didn't end with the Emancipation Proclamation nearly 150 years ago. "[4] Harrell noted that "people are afraid to share their stories" because "many of the same white families who owned these plantations are still running local government and big businesses". The ominous (and rather empowering) trailer reveals that Alice cant write and moves around almost like a ghost. They didnt feed us. 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. Antoinette Harrell uncovered the story of Miller, By entering my email I agree to Stylists. Badass. We thought everybody was in the same predicament. Mae died in 2014. But he was picked up by some folks claiming they would help him. 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. [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. I knew there wasn't anyone who could help me. He said, 'Baby, don't run away. It was clear they had never shared their individual stories with one another. As I would realize, people are afraid to share their stories, because in the South so many of the same white families who owned these plantations are still running local government and big businesses. 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. People who hear these stories will often say, You should have gone to the police. You should have run sooner. But the land down here goes on forever. | "They said, 'You better not tell because we'll kill 'em, kill all of you, you n----rs,'" Annie Miller said. If we dont investigate and bring to light how slavery quietly continued, it could happen again. Her father, Cain, couldnt take the suffering anymore and tried to flee the property by himself in the middle of the night. Alice was fine. Harrells groundbreaking work has exposed cases in her home state of Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Florida. Mae calls Kentwood, LA, home. | Even if you could run, where would you go? "[3] In 2004, a judge dropped the lawsuit. They feel this is not going on we have a Black president.' You can use this page to start a discussion with others about how to improve the "Mae Louise Miller" page. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. ), the trick to appreciating this one is to skip the first 30 mins (trust me!) Every passing year, the workers fell deeper and deeper in debt. Dec. 20, 2003 -- 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. He was 107 years old, but his mind was still incredibly sharp. But whatever. That said, this movie was well done and as shocking as the reality of the concept was it made a great revenge story! Mae refused and sassed the farm owners wife when she told her to work. ", 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. The lady on the cart saw the bush moving. Along with Mae Louise Miller, the film also features commentary from activist/comedian Dick Gregory, Harvard law professor Charles Ogletree and others. While the original article is unavailable to read, Collider breaks down what happened to Mae. Court Records. The only fact that seemed certain was that slavery ended with the passing of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. -- minus three stars. They beat us, Mae Miller said. There were unusual ticks she had from her upbringing. This movie is what it is. We couldn't have that. 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. Reviews. "They treated the dogs a whole lot better than they treated us. They trade you off, they come back and get you, from one day to the next. My mother always talked to me about our family history and the family members who had passed on. 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. Then 18, Mae refused to do housework for another family in Kentwood, LA, and ran away after the owner threatened to kill her. FAQ She was called to white family's house and told to clean it. Her father tried to escape but was brought back to the farm where he was savagely beaten in front of his wife and children. TikTok video from BitchinMini (@bitchinmini): "#duet with @directordaddy". This situation had them living their lives as 20th-century slaves. Trying to fix that hierarchy isn't "bringing race into it." In a 2006 ABC News investigation, Miller revealed that her childhood was full of picking cotton, pulling corn, picking peas, picking butter beans, picking string beans, digging potatoes. Miller told her about how she and her mother were raped and beaten when they went to the main house to work. 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. Its time travel at its most hopeful, something Palmer recently commented on in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. He's still living. [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. Harrell recounts that there was a great amount of trepidation on the part of the former slaves to tell their stories because in the Deep South there is great fear of what is colloquially referred to as old money. The families who owned and ran plantations, their original source of political power, still retained political power, moving from the plantations to the local government and big businesses. Mae said that the Wall family's world was "confined from one [plantation] to the other. Six months after that meeting, I was giving a lecture on genealogy and reparations in Amite, Louisiana, when I met Mae Louise Walls Miller. "It was very terrible. Mae Miller is 79 years old and was born on 08/24/1943. Written down alongside other personal belongings that included spoons, forks, hogs, cows, and a sofa were my great great grandparents, Thomas and Carrie Richardson. Most shocking of all was their fear. 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. 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. No matter if you are Black or White you will see yourself in the documentary, said Mr. Smith. There were several times when I returned to the property where Mae and her family were held. 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. A trailer for the film can be viewed at http://www.theprofitmusic.com. 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