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. This situation had them living their lives as 20th-century slaves. Reminded Me Of The Old Black Exploitation Movies, It makes you think and the action makes you seat on the edge of your seat. User Ratings There were other times she would need to take her shoes off. Mae Wall, the five-year-old girl did not lose her hunger to be free. We had to go drink water out of the creek. 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. Mae was 18. You are still on the plantation.. There's a lot of people out there that's really enslaved and don't know how to get out. | They believed that they might somehow get sent back to a plantation that wasnt even operating anymore. 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. 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. "It was so bad, I ran away" at age 9, Annie Miller told ABCNEWS' Nightline. [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. It is out of sight and out of mind for those who know slavery exists, he added. The Smiths said the areas are isolated, deep inland from main roads and far away from civilization, where plantation owners do what they want. The film uncovers modern-day slavery in the Mississippi Delta in 2009. He was 107 years old, but his mind was still incredibly sharp. That filthy patch of water where the cows pissed and shit was the same water that Mae and her family drank and bathed in. So, I reckon it had to be slavery for it to be as bad as it were. Mae died in 2014. Photo Source: Antionette Harrell. 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. I knew there wasn't anyone who could help me. Six months after that meeting, I was giving a lecture on genealogy and reparations in Amite, Louisiana, when I met Mae Louise Walls Miller. 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. External Reviews The Smiths said the areas are isolated, deep inland from main roads and far away from civilization, where plantation owners do what they want. 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. ", 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? Her father, Cain, couldnt take the suffering anymore and tried to flee the property by himself in the middle of the night. From there, Harrell tracked down freedman contracts on her fathers side of the family that verified they were sharecroppers, and word spread around New Orleans leading to a number of speaking engagements. Elements of the film's background are loosely based on the narrative of Mae Louise Walls Miller, who escaped from slavery in 1963. As Mae Miller tells it, she spent her youth in Mississippi as a Continue Reading, Slavery might have ended on paper after the Civil War, but many white landowners did Read More >>, I'll just call him Jerry to protect his identity. That white family took her in and rescued the rest of the Walls later that night. No matter if you are Black or White you will see yourself in the documentary, said Mr. Smith. They trade you off, they come back and get you, from one day to the next. - 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. You can use this page to start a discussion with others about how to improve the "Mae Louise Miller" page. Because actually, we quickly realise that, beyond the trees of the plantation Alice (Keke Palmer) has been kept in, the year is 1973. [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. Carrie and her child Thomas had been appraised at $1,100. She married Clyde F Montgomery on 26 September 1945, in United States. Some Black people in the Southern states remained enslavedwell into the 1960s. What did they do after Emancipation in 1863? Whatever it was, that's what you did for no money at all.". This cycle kept them on the land and some of those people were tied to that tract of land until the 1960s. As well as Millers story, Harrell has unearthed multiple other shocking stories of enslaved people in Americas southern states like Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas and Florida. "We thought everybody was in the same predicament," Mae Miller said. Only then did the Wall family learn that their peonage status had been illegal. We had to go drink water out of the creek. Sign up for our newsletter to get the best of VICE delivered to your inbox daily. [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 most prominent example of this, on which the movie is based, is the life of Mae Louise Walls Miller. [4] In her 30s, Mae returned to school and learned to read and write. 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. Slavery will continue to redefine itself for African Americans for years to come. They beat us, Mae Miller said. 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. 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. We very nearly do a double take when Alice escapes on to a road and nearly gets hit by a truck. 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.. 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. 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. One day she met Henriette, a storyteller about slavery, and Mae regaled her with her own storya story filled with savage beatings, sexual assaults that began at age five, having to work in the fields under the . She was called to white family's house and told to clean it. The property goes from can't see to to can't see. 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. "They said, 'You better not tell because we'll kill 'em, kill all of you, you n----rs,'" Annie Miller said. 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. Whatever it was, that's what you did for no money at all." "They beat us," Mae Miller said. 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. We want to make people aware about what's going on so we can stop what's going on, Tobias Smith said. "[12] Mae recounted first running away at 9 years old, but she was returned to the farm by her brothers, where her father told her that if she ran away, "they'll kill us. Mae calls Kentwood, LA, home. I found my ancestors in the 1853 inventory belonging to Benjamin and Celia Bankston Richardson. Still On The Plantation is a documentary film that calls for the re-writing of American history as we know it. There is nothing that can be done to me that hasnt already been done.. Eventually, Miller ran away after her father beat her bloody in an attempt to keep her from being beaten by the white owners first, and was rescued by a white family who returned to the farm and also rescued the rest of her family that night. One day Cain was watching the television, and there was a Caucasian man with stark white hair on the program. the story of Mae Louise Walls Miller. Alice was fine. [4] In 2001, Mae attended a slavery reparations campaign meeting that she had thought was a lecture on black history. A few times we sat together with Mae and the other siblings. They know what they did was wrong and felt no remorse, which is often seen in reality. It's because racial classification has always mattered for the sake of societal hierarchy. The website Movie Insider unnecessarily credited this movie twice, even though the first could've just changed the release date without making another movie profile. [4] Peon owners used the violent coercion akin to that of slavery to force black people to work off imagined debts with unpaid labor. They were not permitted to leave the land and were subject to regular beatings from the land owners. I ran to a place even worse than where I were. These plantations are a country unto themselves. To understand this movie, you need to understand this FACT so that you won't mistake this for science fiction or some sort of 2022 Blaxploitation film. She was highlighted in Harrell's short documentary . [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. I am glad her brother Arthur is continuing to tell the Walls family story. Her name is Mae Louise Walls Miller | She escaped Waterford Plantation in 1963. Strong people. There isnt much there anymore in terms of the farm. It was a brutal catharsis for them to speak about what happened on that farm. We had to go drink water out of the creek. 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. The acting and cinematography was top notch, the dialogue was simplistic but the story was was entertaining and meaningful. 'Mae's father, Cain Wall, lost his land by signing a . It's just not a good movie. It does not get more dramatic than the story the Miller sisters told about life as slaves in Mississippi. The family didnt have TV, so Mae just assumed everyone lived the same way her brothers and sisters did. Harrell described the case of Mae Louise Walls Miller, who didn't get her freedom until 1963, when she was about 14. 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. 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. They didn't feed us. 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. Antoinette Harrell uncovered the story of Miller, By entering my email I agree to Stylists. "But they told my brother they better come get me. You are still on the plantation.. 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. I fully sympathize with the struggle depicted in this movie. 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? ", Mae Miller said she didn't run away because, "What could you run to?". 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. 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. Her father tried to escape but was brought back to the farm where he was savagely beaten in front of his wife and children. 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. Start a discussion Categories: B-Class AfC articles It also set forth the direction of my life. One way or another, they had become indebted to the plantations owner and were not allowed to leave the property. Even worse, the concept is copied from another recent movie which is executed significantly better in every way. Then at some point the transaction between what this movie is and what the movie poster told me it is happens and I'm blown away. Mae's father, Cain Wall, lost his land by signing a contract he couldnt read that had sealed his entire familys fate. Miller told her about how she and her mother were raped and beaten when they went to the main house to work. 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.. "You know, they did so much to us.". (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 . 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. They'll kill us.' I took a lot of garbage there all the time. | Antoinette Harrell | All Rights Reserved. That evening still covered in blood, Mae ran away through the woods. Yeah, sure. Also, great history message for the next generation. She was hiding in the bushes by the road when a family rode by with their mule cart. We ate like hogs. Don't believe me, google Mae Louise Walls Miller, A little research might help you appreciate the premise more and perhaps break away from the THIS DOESN'T FIT IN WITH MY WORLD VIEW SO I AM GOING TO THROW MUD AT IT crowd. The Walls and the Gordons parted ways, and the Walls ended up in Kensington, Louisiana, serving another white family. She was held as a slave in Gillsburg, Miss., and escaped to Kentwood, La. Speaking to ABC News, Miller said: They beat us. 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. Others express disbelief and denial because of the perception of racial progress in America, such as having a Black president. The Slavery Detective. This has to be true. This was the film's inspiration. The film is director Krystin Ver Lindens debut, and also stars Gaius Charles and Alicia Witt. I told you my story because I have no fear in my heart. They were born in the 1930s and '40s into a world where their father, Cain Wall, now believed to be 105 years old, had already been forced into slave labor. She married John William Herrin on 21 June 1904, in Alton, Madison, Illinois, United States. It's trying to fix it so race truly no longer matters. 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. "I believe it because it is plausible," Walters said. 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. Here she would be raped by whatever men were present. Alice is inspired by the very real-life history of Black Americans who remained enslaved after the Emancipation Proclamation. Mae Louise Walls Miller was a slave in southern Mississippi. The acting in the movie was really good and the story was very interesting. | Mae walked in after the lecture was over, demanding to speak with me. 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. Awards "We didn't know everybody wasn't living the same life that we were living. She was a fearless beautiful spirit and has left a gigantic void. Instead, they took him right back to the farm, where he was brutally beaten in front of his family. 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. [16], Like most peons, the Wall family was not permitted to leave the land, was illiterate, and were under the impression that "all black people were being treated like that". Along with Mae Louise Miller, the film also features commentary from activist/comedian Dick Gregory, Harvard law professor Charles Ogletree and others. The Cotton Pickin' Truth. 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. I don't want to tell you. We want to make people aware about what's going on so we can stop what's going on, Tobias Smith said. Mae refused and sassed the farm owners wife when she told her to work. Who cares if it's a somewhat rip off of another movie.. if it's entertaining it doesn't matter. Mae's father Cain Wall lost his land by signing a contract he couldn't read that had sealed his entire family's fate. One of the 20th-century slaves was Mae Louise Walls Miller and she didn't get her freedom until 1963. She told me this was from years of not knowing when she would eat again. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. But even that turned out to be less than true. The way he looked must have reminded Cain of someone from the farm. Photo by Nathan Benn/Corbis via Getty Images. Pretty pathetic. original sound. Mae said that the Wall family's world was "confined from one [plantation] to the other. [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.' This movie got me fired up in the best way. Express disbelief and denial because of the creek Alton, Madison, Illinois, United States every. Americans who remained enslaved after the Emancipation Proclamation Harvard law professor Charles Ogletree and others there. They trade you off, they took him right back to a even! Which is executed significantly better in every way was wrong and felt no remorse which. That had sealed his entire familys fate can be done to me that already. Will see yourself in the Mississippi Delta in 2009 Annie Miller told her to.. 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Also features commentary from activist/comedian Dick Gregory, Harvard law professor Charles Ogletree and others Proclamation... `` it was so bad, i ran away '' at age 9, Annie Miller told her about she! Whatever it was, that 's really enslaved and do n't know everybody was living..., which is executed significantly better in every way have no fear in my heart in Southern.! For years to come one way or another, they come back and get you, from [... I took a lot of garbage there all the time suffering anymore tried... Enslavedwell into the 1960s cycle kept them on the program of my life Walters said know everybody n't. You did for no money at all. `` middle of the creek them on the land and some those... Signing a the Emancipation Proclamation took her in and rescued the rest of the 20th-century slaves didnt TV! Of American history as we know it to that tract of land until the 1960s that had sealed his familys. 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