Dr. Sharon Malone speaks during the 'Slavery By Another Name' panel during the PBS portion of the 2012 Winter TCA Tour held at The Langham Huntington Hotel and Spa on Jan. 4, 2012 in Pasadena, Calif.
*Imagine this…
You do some research into your family tree and discover that your uncle, who was born nearly 30 years after slavery, was one of thousands of black men pulled back into a forced labor system in which they were arrested – largely on trumped up charges – and compelled to work without pay as prisoners.
Imagine that this “convict leasing” system saw the groups of prisoners sold to private parties – like plantation owners or corporations - and that it was not only tolerated by both the North and South, but largely ignored by the U.S. Justice Department.
Now, imagine that nearly a century after your uncle served 366 days in this penal labor system, you find yourself married to the head of the U.S. Justice Department, who, ironically, just so happens to be the first African American in the position.
Dr. Sharon Malone, wife of U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, tells the heartbreaking story of her uncle Henry in the upcoming 90-minute PBS documentary “Slavery by Another Name.” The film is based on the eye-opening book by Douglas A. Blackmon, which exposes a part of American history that most folks either had no clue existed, or didn’t know existed to the extent that it did.
“I want people to understand that this is not something that’s divorced and separate, and this doesn’t have anything to do with them,” Dr. Malone told EURweb exclusively at the Television Critics Association press tour last week. “If you were a black person who grew up in the South, some way or the other – whether or not you were directly involved in the system as my uncle was – you knew somebody who was, or your daily lives were circumscribed by those circumstances.”
“But more importantly,” she continues, “why I really want people to see this film is because this is American history. This isn’t just southern history, or African American history. It explains a lot of who we are as a people. It is a missing puzzle piece for what happened. You had the Civil War, you had reconstruction, gap, gap, gap, and then you’re at Martin Luther King. This fills in that gap.”
“Slavery by Another Name,” narrated by Laurence Fishburne and produced and directed by Sam Pollard, premieres Monday, Feb. 13, 2012 at 9 p.m. ET on PBS. Scroll down to watch the promo.
Below, Dr. Malone says she sensed that something was always on low boil with Uncle Henry.
Dr. Sharon Malone of PBS’ ‘Slavery By Another Name’ on her uncle Henry by CherieNic
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She is a very prominent physician in the DC area…can’t wait to see this special
Now watch Herman Cain, Allen West, Juan Williams and the Tea Party nuts try to demonize this production and direct criticism toward Obama. Dr. Sharon thank you for the historical account of your family. It will reveal to us the real story of American slavery. I know there will be ssa holes like TimH chiming in and telling us Black folks to “get over it.” Nosey rekcarc!! Fanteeking
Imagine the south in the 1890′s post Civil War accepting ‘All men being created equal’,,, yea right. The slave owners stripped of cheap, almost-free labor, void of female chattel to defile sexually at their whim. Still seething over their defeat by the Union, unable to accept the true unrighteousness of their doomed plight. Imagine being taxed to educate a formerly enslaved populace,,,,again, yea, right. Justice at that time, especically local southern justice was serving just them to their benefit and when used for blacks was mostly applied dispargingly if at all. We know how federal law worked for Dred Scott and Homer Plessey, it didn’t.
Sharon, you have done a great job bring the plight of your Uncle Henry to the American public. Filling the monumental gap in your uncles life is tantamount to what I call closing the “PSTD Gap’ “PSTD – Post Slavery Traumatic Disorder Gap”. White southern confederate descendents that harbor ‘the south will rise again” delusions are a classic example. Black males born and raised in the south, educated, under-educated, over-educated, non-educated and the younger lost uneducatable males all harbor some form of “PSTD Gap” akin to an innate hostile anger for their ancestors dehumanization during slavery, post slavery, right up to and through the civil rights era ‘to today. But yet still we strive not to harbor the anger that our ancestors could not display. Looking forward to watching it. Thanks to “PBS” and all who helped Sharon bring light to her Uncle Henry’s unfortunate plight!!!!
P.S. my Mother was also from Monroe County, AL. She was a Tate, Google “Little Wyatt Tate” a book authored by my cousin Bill Tate, fiction based on 1890′s facts “Little Wyatt” did not play. !!!! Belated Happy B’day Sharon !!!! …………..Leroy S. (Bubba) Bosby, Jr.
Thanks to everyone involved with this production “Slavery by Another Name.” I too have family roots in the Deep South and American slavery. (See: http://ccharity.com/bound-by-the-past/).
However, a slow reread of the 13th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution will show that slavery never was fully abolished in America. It was altered and still in effect in every prison in America. Slavery in America is even worse in privatized prisons, institutions that trade on the stock exchange.
Still sadly too many African Americans continue to fill the prisons of America, often times willingly committing crimes that lead them to slavery.
Amendment XIII
Section 1.
Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, EXCEPT (capitalizations is mine) as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
Section 2.
Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.