Reviving the blog — See the film on Feb. 13!
Over the past nearly four years, since the publication of “Slavery by Another Name,” this website has been the platform for an interaction with readers of the book that has been simply astonishing for me. Even all the years spent researching the book, I have been amazed at the personal stories that have come to me through this blog and emails here–even as I was a woefuly absent blogger at the same time.
So I want to thank everyone who has visited this site, shared their stories and reached out to me in other ways. I have learned so much from all of you. I’m also gratified that the vast vast majority of the communication I’ve had has come from readers who wanted constructive dialogue with others about the complicated issues of race and the past that are still so much at the center of America’s national discourse. Even people who wanted to disagree with me have often had good and admirable intentions. But there have been other voices too, who remind us that there are still many people in our society whose goals are destructive or propagandistic. They are the strongest argument for continuing to seek honest conversation, driven by facts and clinical observation.
In a few days, on Feb. 13, 2012, the documentary film based on my book will appear on PBS, at 9 p.m. EST. Hopefully, it will stir an even larger conversation about these important questions in American life–and hopefully it will once again be a discussion marked by constructive goals. Wherever it goes, I’ll do a better job of sharing my thoughts on the blog from here on.
Thanks again to all of you who have joined in this dialogue. Please stay with me, and encourage others to join us.
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Has this been on TV again? I’m eager to watch it 🙂
My eyes filled with tears while watching this documentary and realizing that I was shamefully unaware of the 80 years after the Civil War during which thousands (an estimated 800,000) of Black people were held in forced servitude in the South and continued to suffer brutality and atrocities, despite the 14th Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America. Not until President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued an order authorizing the federal prosecution of slavery in any form (including convict leasing, peonage, and share cropping) did this system of human rights violations come to an end. How is it possible that a college-educated woman with a degree in journalism knew nothing of this? Because I did not educate myself and I accepted what the public educational system told me. The fact that pure greed and the pursuit of profit fueled the continued systematic enslavement of my people gives new meaning to the term “free enterprise system.” floridageecheeooman
I was browsing the history book section in a Hong Kong bookstore, and found your book. I had no idea what I was getting into. It took me four months to read because it is so powerful and so disturbing. I wish all Americans would read it and be exposed to the sad truths it contains. As someone born in VA, I was sorry not to see more about my home state. Is there a good central location where this kind of information is being collected and saved? It certainly needs to be preserved. Thanks for opening my eyes to a time period I had never paid any detailed attention to. Good luck!
Douglas – thank you for opening our eyes to the TRUE side of history. So often, we are bombarded with what our families, our teachers and even at times our government wants us to “learn.” We aren’t always given the unvarnished truth – even when it comes to the history of our country. Being half Cherokee, I cried as I learned and began to understand so much more than I ever have in my 41 years.
I am Northern bred and born and now reside in Birmingham, AL. I discovered this book in the library. The emotions I have felt while reading this book range from extreme anger to empathy to amazement. I am learning so much about the South that my husband and I have embraced as our new home. This book has helped me tremendously to begin to “understand” how the area was established. I use the word understand in quotes because I don’t think I can ever understand the cruelty used in the founding of Birmingham. I also watched the show online at PBS. What an amazingly written book. Thank you so much for the opening of my eyes.
Coverage of this subject is long overdue, yet it is timely due to the privatization of prisons in some states and the inevitable abuse that will occur in them. Just as lynchings were not covered by the local news in the towns where they occurred, the secrets of those unjust, tragic kidnappings – aka arrests – needed to be told, analyzed, and not forgotten. Too bad that it’s too late to punish all those responsible for these attrocities.
Wonder why we don’t talk about these things yet white America really doesn’t know these stories. Where did the “Conversations about Race” President Clinton started years ago vanish to. But, the Republicans and the ultra conservatives still talk about race They are afraid that the poor “Black people” are still wallowing around in dependency, still living on handouts. Wonder why those descendents of those imprisoned slaves (after slavery had ended) may still have trouble pulling themselves up by their bootstraps.
I came across this last night quite by accident and was caught up immediatly. I was flabergasted at the things that in my 58yrs of living in the south and loving history that I had never even heard an inkling of this. As a southerner but also as a human being this opened my eyes and explained so many things that I have grown up with and never understood the depth of why the Blacks in this country feel the way they do. How else could they feel.
Charley, don’t feel bad. I’m a native Atlantan and as far back as I can tell my family originates in the metro Atlanta area, and I had no idea about this part of southern U.S. history. I love history and always have. I sat dumbfounded watching the PBS documentary last night.
I am so thankful to Mr. Blackmon for his work. I just ordered the book and before reading it, I’m sure that he well deserves the Pulitzer. This documentary stirred a range of emotions in me. The brutality described in this film was so overwhelmingly inhumane, that I cried and prayed to God that no other human being will undergo such torture. Yet, I felt such pride that the descendants of those men, women, and babies that were enslaved after the emancipation of slaves, had done so well. I am extremely saddened, though, to learn that President Johnson did nothing to protect these U.S. citizens.
The author and those interviewed so eloquently presented facts in terms that everyone will understand. I’m telling everyone I know about your book and the PBS broadcast.
Thank you, Mr. Blackmon!!
Thank you for this splendid documentary. No history of this nation is complete without this dark chapter.
I don’t think any understanding of the prison/industrial complex is complete without a knowledge of these evil roots.
WHEN WILL IT AIR ON TV AGAIN ?
Check your local listings–which means call your local PBS affiliate. The film will be rebroadcast at different times and on different dates in various markets. You can also watch it online at pbs.org/SBAN