{"id":19647,"date":"2021-06-18T14:08:59","date_gmt":"2021-06-18T18:08:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/?p=19647"},"modified":"2021-06-21T08:35:03","modified_gmt":"2021-06-21T12:35:03","slug":"ife-franklin-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/2021\/06\/18\/ife-franklin-2\/","title":{"rendered":"On Juneteenth, If\u00e9 Franklin Debuts ‘Slave Narrative’ Film"},"content":{"rendered":"

From my article in Dig Boston<\/a>:<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019s sick O Massa hans all ova me.\u201d<\/p>\n

So begins If\u00e9 Franklin\u2019s 2018 book \u201cThe Slave Narrative of Willie Mae\u201d (Wildheart Press).<\/p>\n

\u201cThis book is historical fiction about a young woman, Willie Mae,\u201d Franklin says. Set in the mid-1800s, Willie Mae is \u201ca 20-year-old African American enslaved woman in Virginia who knows that she\u2019s not a slave. She knows it. She understands it. She\u2019s smart. She\u2019s questioning things.\u201d<\/p>\n

The story began as a series of Facebook posts by the Black, queer, interdisciplinary artist over three months about five years ago. \u201cThe spirit of my grandmother came to me and said this is how it should be,\u201d Franklin says. \u201c\u2026 The book was definitely a gift from the ancestors. They called to me. They said start writing.\u201d<\/p>\n