Wanda's Picks Special: Sam Pollard, Slavery by Another Name

Slavery by Another Name, a 90-minute documentary produced and directed by Sam Pollard, who is our guest this morning, premiered at the Sundance Festival January 23, 2012, and the screening resulted in tremendous applause post screening with award-winning director Sam Pollard appearing at the podium for the Q&A. The film will make its U.S. national television debut Monday, February 13, 2012 at 9:00 PM ET on PBS, 10 PM PT.

Slavery by Another Name challenges one of Americans’ most cherished assumptions: the belief that slavery in this country ended with the Emancipation Proclamation. The film tells how even as chattel slavery came to an end in the South in 1865, thousands of African Americans were pulled back into forced labor with shocking force and brutality. It was a system in which men, often guilty of no crime at all, were arrested, compelled to work without pay, repeatedly bought and sold, and coerced to do the bidding of masters. Tolerated by both the North and South, forced labor lasted well into the 20th century. The film is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book by Wall Street Journal senior writer Douglas A. Blackmon. Award-winning actor Laurence Fishburne, star of eclectic film, television and stage productions, is the narrator of this film.

We close with an interview with Martin Luther who appears at MoAD, Feb. 14, 2012, 7-10 p.m. in an intimate conversation with acoustic guitar.