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Who Kept Slavery in America a Secret in the 20th Century?
"The Untold Story: 20th Century Slavery"
Genealogist/Family Historian Antoinette Harrell is conducting
peonage research in the childhood Oprah Winfrey, where African Americans
were held in slavery in the 20th Century. |
Genealogist Antoinette Harrell is conducting research in
isolated rural areas in Money, Mississippi, where Emmett Till was
murdered. Many people was held in slavery in the county of Leflore,
Mississippi |
New Orleans, LA (BlackNews.com) - When did slavery in America end? The American history books teach us that enslaved Blacks in the United States of America celebrated their freedom in 1863, when Abraham Lincoln freed us by enacting the Emancipation Proclamation.
But what if--just if--America's grips on slavery never loosen? What if slavery continued to be reality for African Americans in sixteen states and sixteen counties throughout Mississippi, from Kosciusko, MS the childhood hometown of Oprah Winfrey to the hometown of Morgan Freeman, Clarksdale, MS down to the lonely roads of Money, MS where Emmett Till was murdered in 1955.
What if the same hunger for a slave economy still nourished America's soils and perverted Southern appetite as it feast along the mightiest rivers. Deep in the bowels of America's richest agricultural belt behind a million cotton bolts. Lived the 20th century masters and African Americans, who were still under the whips and flogging of the master and overseers. Still working from sun up to sun down, who dares to utter the word "slavery," yet lived its reality each and every backbreaking day.
So why don't you know anything about slavery in the 20th Century. The U.S. Government knew, the FBI knew, the NAACP knew, Governor Earl Brewer of Mississippi knew, President Calvin Coolidge, President Franklin D. Roosevelt knew, local sheriffs, elected officials knew, and the Supreme Court knew. You didn't know because the truth of this American nightmare--for those who lived it--has been buried in an unnamed darkness in dusty courthouse attics and the National Archives "Department of Justice" files in Washington, D.C.
Antoinette Harrell have dedicated the last ten years of my life exposing the truth and facts. Harrell has researched through thousands of documents housed in the National Archives and traveled throughout Mississippi, searching through criminal and civil documents as it relates to peonage "Involuntary Servitude" a condition of slavery.
Join genealogist Antoinette Harrell as she unearths peonage research documents. Hear former slave Mae Louise Miller recount her personal experience as a slave in the 20th Century during the '40s, '50s, '60s and her escape from slavery in 1963. On Saturday May 10th, a documentary will premiere entitled The Untold Story: Slavery in the 20th Century at Loyola University in New Orleans, LA, Miller Hall 114 at 6:00 p.m. Written and produced by Antoinette Harrell whose previous works on peonage were featured in People Magazine and Nightline News on "20th Century Slavery."
A Press Conference will be held:
WHEN: Wednesday, May 7, 2008
TIME: 9:30 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.
PLACE: The African American Museum
1418 Governor Nicholl Street
New Orleans, LA 70116
CONTACT:
Antoinette Harrell
504-858-4658
afrigenah@yahoo.com
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