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The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman

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    [singing] Happy Birthday to you
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    Happy Birthday to you,
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    Happy Birthday, Miss Jane
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    Happy Birthday to you.
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    [clapping]
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    Jane: Lena, whatchu put all these candles on this cake for?
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    Man: Ma'am, now just blow 'em out. Just blow 'em out.
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    Jane: No, I ain't got enough breathe to be blowing out these candles.
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    [blows out candles]
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    Woman: See there!
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    [laughing, clapping]
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    Voices: Happy Birthday, Jane!
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    Jane: Mmm, gonna be here with me this time next year, Lena?
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    Lena: God willin', God willin'.
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    Jane: Don't wanna be here by myself now.
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    Woman: I'm gonna be here with ya, Jane.
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    Jane: Oh Mary, I know you gonna be here.
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    Mary: Yeah, child.
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    Jane: Oh, [unwrapping gift, clapping]
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    Woman: Happy Birthday! [laughs]
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    Man: Hello, Miss Jane.
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    Jane: Well, hello, Jimmy. Come on in.
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    Jimmy: Happy Birthday.
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    Can I speak with you, Miss Jane?
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    Jane: [paper rustling] Jimmy, let's go on outside before they stuff me full a cake.
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    Jane: Me help? How?
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    Man: By goin' with us down to the courthouse, when we get ready to move.
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    Jane: I'm 109, 110. I'm too old. Can't do nuttin' but get in the way.
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    Jimmy: You can inspire the others.
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    Jane: Jimmy,
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    whatchu got goin' in the back of your head?
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    Jimmy: We gonna have one of our girls drink from the white people's fountain down at the courthouse.
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    Jane: The white folks' fountain?
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    Ha Ha. That old Lou and Edgar won't let her get anywhere near that fountain.
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    You know, when they passed that segregation law,
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    that old Lou come 'round slobberin and hollerin', I tell 'em
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    Edgar, if you touch me, I take my cane and cut your skull! [laughing]
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    Jimmy: We want Gidry to arrest her. If one of us did it, we'd just get beat up.
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    Jane: Now, what you want old fat Gidry to arrest her for?
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    Jimmy: So we can march down to the courthouse.
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    Jane: Oh Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy, you see, these folks around here ain't ready for nuttin' like that yet.
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    Man: That's our job.
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    Jane: Talk to 'em, Jimmy. Talk to the young ones.
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    Jimmy: We don't have that kinda time, Miss Jane.
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    Jane: What else do you got, Jim?
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    I've been carryin' a scar on my back ever since I was a slave.
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    Man: That's precisely why we need you; your mere presence will bring forth the multitudes.
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    Jane: Jimmy, understand, believe it or not, I was once young myself.
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    Jimmy: That girl is gonna drink from the fountain tomorrow, Miss Jane.
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    Jane: Well,
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    God moves in mysterious ways, His wonders to perform.
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    Jane: I'll wait for Him to give me the sign, Jimmy,
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    and He's right most times. I'll wait on Him.
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    Jimmy: That girl is gonna drink from the fountain tomorrow, Miss Jane.
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    [airplane motor]
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    [car passing by]
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    [car driving on gravel road]
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    [door slamming, footsteps on gravel]
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    Man: Excuse me,
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    [dishes clinking]
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    I'm a, I'm looking for Miss Jane Pittman.
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    Man: Well, you'll find Miss Jane in the last cabin on your left, down that lane.
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    Man: Thank you, thank you very much.
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    Lena: Tell me again, whatchu wanna know about Miss Jane for?
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    Man: I'm writing a feature story.
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    Jane: A what? Is this for radio? I'm gonna be on television, the Ed Sullivan Show.
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    Man: No, ma'am. It's, it's, ah, for a magazine from New York.
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    Jane: Oh, always prefer Brooklyn myself.
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    [laughing]
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    Jane: Oooh, you wanna know how come I live so long?
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    Man: Well, I'd like to hear whatever you have to say.
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    Jane: 'Bout what?
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    Lena: You don't have to say a thing to him, Miss Jane.
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    Man: I understand you were a slave.
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    Jane: Lots of peoples was slaves.
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    Man: Well, yes, but you're still alive.
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    Jane: Jus 'bout.
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    [birds tweeting]
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    Man: Well, I, I thought maybe you could tell me what things were like in those days.
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    Jane: In those days?
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    Hmm.
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    [cane tapping on porch]
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    Tomorrow.
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    Lena: Miss Jane's tired. She'll decide tomorrow.
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    [people walking, cars driving by]
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    Radio: This morning marks Bayonne's first brush with the so-called Civil Rights Movement.
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    There's a group of negro agitators confronted Sherriff Gidry at the white folks-only drinking fountain at the courthouse.
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    There were no serious injuries reported, although several arrests were made.
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    Jane: Well, it's her son, Jimmy, that got into jail there. She can tell ya.
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    Man: Well, I want to do an interview with him as soon as things settle down,
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    but I, I came down here to talk to you, Miss Jane. Are you a 110 years old?
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    Jane: Hmmpf. So they tell me.
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    Man: How far back can you remember?
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    Jane: How far back you wanna go?
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    Man: Well, ah, the war. Can you remem-
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    Jane: What war? Second World, First World, or that, that Cuban War?
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    Man: Y - you remember the Spanish American War?
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    Jane: Spanish American War! [laughs]
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    I can do a whole lot better than that.
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    Man: Do you remember getting your freedom?
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    Jane: I hope I never forget it. How far back you wanna go? You wanna go back that far?
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    I'll go back as far as you wanna go.
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    Lena: Now you don't have to tell him nothing, Miss Jane.
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    Jane: I know that, Lena, but if I don't, he's just gonna sit here and worry me half to death.
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    Man: You mean, it's alright?
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    Jane: How far? You want me to go back as far as I can go? That's even further than when the freedom come.
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    [clicks on the tape recorder]
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    Jane: That thing ain't gonna bite me, is it?
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    Man: Oh no, ma'am, no. It's just a tape.
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    [laughing]
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    Jane: Oh my, my, my.
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    Well, where to start, where to start, Lena.
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    Lena: Honestly, I wouldn't talk to this man here.
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    Jane: Lena, you just fill in the gaps.
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    Lena: Huh, well, I can see who got their mind made up.
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    You might as well start with them over there.
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    Jane: What. Oh these?
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    Lena: Hmm.
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    Lord, Lord, Lord.
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    I have had these things ever since I can remember.
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    Man: Two rocks?
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    Jane: You don't know a whole lot, do ya?
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    [music]
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    [horses neighing, walking]
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    [footsteps]
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    [chicken clucking]
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    Old Jane: Oh, it was a cold day.
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    Wet and muddy, I will never forget it.
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    The red army they come first, officers on horses and troops just walking.
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    They was half dead, dragging their guns in the mud, they were so tired.
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    Some of 'em weren't much older than I was.
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    Officer: Ma'am, would it be asking too much if we could use some of your water?
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    We don't have very much time.
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    Woman: I'd be honored, Sir.
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    Colonel, would you do me the pleasure of taking some brandy wine?
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    Colonel: Well, thank you kindly. I would like that.
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    [horses neighing]
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    Woman: Tycee! [clapping hands]
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    Tycee! Don't just stand there gaping. Get them troops some water.
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    [water splashing]
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    Man: Here you go, boy.
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    Old Jane: These are the same ones, mind ya, that told their peoples when the war was getting started:
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    "Keep my food warm. I'm gonna kill me a few Yankees and be home for supper."
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    Man 1: Colonel! Colonel!
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    Man 2: Over there!
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    Man 1: Colonel, I seen 'em. They're right down the road. They're right behind me.
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    Colonel: Ma'am, I am truly grateful, and God bless ya'll.
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    Woman: Our hearts are with you.
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    Man 3: If it was left up to me, I'd turn them niggers lose if it was left up to me.
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    Man 4: Yeah, if the Yankees won. Have to give the Yankees hell!
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    [horses galloping]
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    [gunfire in background]
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    Woman: Tycee, what are you doing standing there for? You go get some more water.
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    Tycee: What for, Mistress Bryant. They're all gone now.
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    Mrs. Bryant: Oh, you don't think Yankees drink water too? Don't ya hear that rifle fire?
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    Tycee: I gotta haul all that water for them Yankees too?
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    Mrs. Bryant: You don't want to get boiled in oil now, do ya?
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    [horses neighing]
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    Tycee: They're comin', they're comin'! The Yankees are comin'!
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    Mrs. Bryant: Where?
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    Tycee: Over there.
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    Mrs. Bryant: Oh my God, they're coming right through the fields!
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    Where's the Master?
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    Tycee: He's there sw'mping 'round the tree.
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    Mrs. Bryant: Stop pointing.
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    You watch your tongue; there may be the devil.
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    Now you hear me. Don't you say one word about the Master or one word about the silver,
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    or they gonna skin you alive before they boil you in oil.
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    Man: Dismount!
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    Mrs. Bryant: How'd ya do?
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    Man: Ma'am.
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    Mrs. Brandt: May I offer you some brandy wine?
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    Man: Why, thank you, Ma'am.
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    [horses walking and neighing]
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    Man: What happened to your shoes?
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    Tycee: I took mine off. They hurt my feet.
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    Man: What's your name?
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    Tycee: Tycee, Master.
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    Man: They ever beat you, Tycee?
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    You can tell me.
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    What do they beat you with?
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    Tycee: Cat-of-Nine tails, Master.
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    Man: Why they'd whip you?
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    Tycee: I go to sleep lookin' after the young mistress's children.
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    Man: You're nothing but a child yourself. How old are you right now?
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    Tycee: I don't know, Master.
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    Man: Tycee, I am not a Master. I am plain old ordinary soldier.
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    My name's Corporal Lewis Brown. Now can you say Corporal?
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    Tycee: No, Master.
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    Corporal Brown: I bet you can. Go on, try.
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    Tycee: I can't say that.
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    Corporal Brown: Can you say Lewis?
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    Tycee: Yes, Master.
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    Corporal Brown: Alright. Well, you call me Lewis,
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    and I'm gonna call you something besides Tycee. Tycee is a slave name.
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    Now, back in Ohio, there's lots of pretty names for a girl like you.
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    Tycee: What names you got?
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    Lewis: Oh, Eloise,
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    Sophie, Margeurite, Jane.
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    Tycee: I like Jane.
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    Lewis: OK, you take it.
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    From now on, your name is Jane.
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    Not Tycee anymore. Jane.
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    When you get older, you change it to anything you want,
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    but until then your name is Jane.
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    Man: Load up!
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    Man: Come on!
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    Lewis: If anybody gives you any more trouble, you just come on up to Ohio and tell me.
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    We'll fix it.
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    [music playing]
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    Voice: Come on!
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    [bell ringing]
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    Old Jane: A year later, Master Bryant called us all together.
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    We knew somethin' big was happenin', 'cause he had on his best suit and his top hat.
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    Master Bryant: Now everybody that can stand or crawl gotta hear this.
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    Man: That's all of them, Master Bryant.
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    Master Bryant: Alright then.
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    I got something to read to ya'll. These papers come through while the war was still goin', but
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    there wasn't any point in reading them until now.
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    Whereas on the 22nd day of September in the year of our Lord, 1862,
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    a proclamation was issued by the President of the United States,
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    containing among other things the following:
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    To wit, that on the first day of January in the year of our Lord 1863
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    all persons held as slaves within any state or designated part of a state,
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    the people where are shall then be in rebellion against the United States
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    shall be then thence forward, and forever, free.
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    Well, it just goes on like that.
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    Now, all I want to say is that
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    ya'll can stay and work on shares; I, I, I can't pay ya nothin',
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    since I ain't got nothin' myself,
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    since them Yankees went through here last time.
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    Ya'll can stay.
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    Ya'll can go.
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    Just as you please.
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    Now, if, if ya'll stay,
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    I promise
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    I, I'll be as fair, as, as fair with ya, as I've always been with ya'll,
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    and that's that.
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    [people laughing and shouting]
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    [man yelling]
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    Now, you just shut up your mouths here.
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    You comin' in here, telling about I'm leaving. Where to? What you gonna do?
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    [Thunder and rain]
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    Man 2: What do we care? We's free to choose.
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    Man 3: There are all kinds of places to go. Gold in California.
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    Man 1: Hold it, hold it. Whatcha gonna eat?
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    Man 2: We'll all to eat food!
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    [laughing]
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    Man 1: How you gonna to pay for all this food, you big young buck?
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    Man 2: With money, Unc, same as any other free man.
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    Unc: And from where is you getting this fortune?
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    Man 2: Honest wage for an honest day's work.
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    Unc: You don't know nothing about outside. You belong right here on this plantation.
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    Jane: Ya'll do what ya'll want. I'm headin' for Ohio.
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    Unc: What about them padaroes, honey?
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    Jane: They got Yankees now. No papers now. I'm just as free as a mouse.
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    Unc: They ain't gonna beatcha, and they didn't kill ya before because you belonged to somebody.
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    Now you ain't owned but by faith, Tycee.
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    Jane: My name's Jane, and I'm headed for Ohio so as you point the way North.
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    Unc: Very well, Miss Jane. North bes that a way from here. Now,
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    the sun's on the right in the morning and on the left in the evening. You got all this?
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    [thunder and rain]
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    All right, now remember. God bless you, child.
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    [mumbling the background]
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    Old Jane: Missus had tears in her eyes, and she was kissin' all the peoples goodbye.
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    Hmm. She even kissed me. [laugh]
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    [music]
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    Jane: We walked for days through the swamps, staying off the main roads
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    cause them padaroes would kill a free man quick as he would a runaway slave.
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    No one knew where we was headed, so, Big Laura, tough as any man, showed the way.
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    [music]
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    [footsteps]
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    [voices murmuring]
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    Big Laura: Come on, Jane, come on.
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    [woman screaming: The padaroes! The padaroes!
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    [guns shooting, baby crying, screaming]
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    {yelling, screaming, fighting}
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    Jane: You wanna go to Ohio with me?
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    If anybody asks, these just two plain old rocks,
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    not the iron and flint that Big Laura used but two plain old rocks.
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    Make sure they get to Ohio the same time we do.
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    Old Jane: So, Big Laura's little boy, Ned and me, we started walking toward Ohio.
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    [dog barking]
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    There wasn't much left of the South in those times.
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    All the Yankees couldn't lift and take with them, they burned.
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    Once in awhile though, you'd see somethin' still standin'.
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    Woman: You! Get away from my fence.
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    Jane: Excuse me, ma'am. Could you tell me which way to Ohio?
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    Please, ma'am!
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    Woman: If you don't get away from my fence, I'm gonna have that dog there point the way to Ohio!
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    [dog barking]
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    Jane: I just wanted to know if I was headed the right way.
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    Women: I don't know nothin about no Ohio. Get away from my fence!
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    Jane: We headed on then. Can you tell me if there's a spring around here?
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    Woman: You don't see no spring around here, do ya?
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    Jane: Me and this boy are awful thirsty.
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    Woman: Stay there.
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    [footsteps]
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    [dog barking]
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    Women: You don't think I'm gonna let you foul this cup with your black mouth, do ya?
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    Hold yer hands out.
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    [water pouring]
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    Woman: Don'tcha all think I love niggers just because I'm given you water.
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    I hate cha'll. Hate cha! All of ya!
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    You're the cause of all the trouble we're having around here. All this ravishin' and burnin'.
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    Yankee and nigger soldiers all over the place. They stealin' and killin'.
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    They done killed my boy and my man, and yer the cause of it,
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    and I hope to God they kill you! I'd kill ya myself if I weren't God-fearin'!
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    Look whatcha done to me! Look whatcha done!
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    Look whatcha done to me! [sobbing]
  • 31:18 - 31:20
    [music]
  • 31:54 - 31:56
    [horse and wagon]
  • 31:59 - 32:06
    Man: Whoa! You two must be pretty tired standing on that grave.
  • 32:07 - 32:10
    Hat so well dried, can't tell who it belonged to.
  • 32:10 - 32:14
    Lot of 'im in there though, whoever they was. Where ya'll goin?
  • 32:14 - 32:16
    Jane: We headin' north.
  • 32:16 - 32:18
    Ned: We headin' north
  • 32:18 - 32:21
    Man: Ya ain't goin' nowhere standin' there.
  • 32:23 - 32:24
    Come on now.
  • 32:31 - 32:33
    [wagon rattling]
  • 32:36 - 32:40
    Man: Headin' north, eh? Where the big freedom, hey?
  • 32:40 - 32:43
    Well, you gonna have to cross a river, you know.
  • 32:43 - 32:44
    Jane: River?!
  • 32:44 - 32:46
    Man: The Mighty MIssissippi.
  • 32:46 - 32:48
    Jane: I ain't crossin' no river, nothin'!
  • 32:48 - 32:53
    Man: You gonna cross the Mighty Mississippi, or you all ain't headin' north.
  • 32:56 - 32:57
    [horses galloping]
  • 32:58 - 33:02
    You two keep still. I know these two. Let me do the talking,
  • 33:09 - 33:12
    Man 2: See you gotcha you some niggers there, Joe.
  • 33:12 - 33:15
    Joe: Yessir! For the Bonduron's place.
  • 33:15 - 33:19
    Can't say they much, but you got to start with somethin', sure!
  • 33:21 - 33:23
    Man: Feed 'em. They'll grow.
  • 33:24 - 33:26
    Joe: Will do, yessir.
  • 33:38 - 33:43
    [wagon rattling]
  • 33:47 - 33:49
    Joe: You two, get off here.
  • 33:51 - 33:52
    Jane: Where the river? I don't see no river.
  • 33:52 - 33:55
    Joe: Never mind. Just get off!
  • 33:58 - 34:00
    Ned: I don't see no river.
  • 34:07 - 34:09
    [wagon rattling away]
  • 34:17 - 34:30
    [music]
  • 34:41 - 34:43
    [banjo playing]
  • 35:36 - 35:39
    Captain: Where do ya think ya'll goin'?
  • 35:40 - 35:42
    Jane: Me and this boy here are headed for Ohio.
  • 35:42 - 35:45
    Captain: Ohio? Who ya'll for?
  • 35:45 - 35:48
    Jane: We ain't for nobody! We just as free as you are.
  • 35:49 - 35:52
    Captain: Well, alright, little free nigger. You got money?
  • 35:52 - 35:56
    It take a nickel to ride on here. You got a nickel each?
  • 35:56 - 35:58
    Jane: No, sir.
  • 35:58 - 36:01
    Captain: Then got on back. Lucas, take care of them.
  • 36:09 - 36:11
    [music]
  • 36:11 - 36:18
    Old Jane: So, we walked and walked. Round in circles, probably.
  • 36:18 - 36:24
    Keeping out of the way of rednecks and padaroes, who was on the lookout for freemen.
  • 36:24 - 36:32
    Finally, we was so tired and hungry, and not knowing where else to go,
  • 36:32 - 36:36
    I signed on at the Dyer plantation.
  • 36:36 - 36:43
    I didn't know it was going to take me twelve long, hard years to get off that place.
  • 36:45 - 36:55
    They no rocks. Ned knew that. They flints for making fire.
  • 37:02 - 37:03
    Man: Is she all right?
  • 37:03 - 37:04
    Lena: Oh yeah.
  • 37:10 - 37:15
    That's just Miss Jane's way. She'd like to take advantage of her age that way,
  • 37:15 - 37:21
    skipping goodbyes and all. Says she had too many anyway.
  • 37:28 - 37:32
    Voice: Uh, excuse me. Gotta whole bunch of telephone messages here for ya.
  • 37:32 - 37:33
    Man: Oh, thank you.
  • 37:33 - 37:40
    Jane's voice: In slavery, you had two dresses, a pair of shoes, and a coat.
  • 37:42 - 37:43
    [typing]
  • 37:47 - 37:48
    [birds tweeting]
  • 37:50 - 37:52
    [crunching]
  • 37:56 - 37:58
    Jane: Say, you like that stuff?
  • 37:58 - 37:59
    Man: Yes, ma'am.
  • 38:00 - 38:03
    Jane: That's homegrown, you know. Not from no can.
  • 38:05 - 38:07
    You ever ate sugar cane before?
  • 38:07 - 38:08
    Man: No, ma'am.
  • 38:09 - 38:11
    Jane: I know you ain't never chopped none.
  • 38:11 - 38:14
    Man: [laughs] No, ma'am, I haven't.
  • 38:15 - 38:21
    Jane: Man has to chop sugar cane for awhile 'for it learns to appreciate it.
  • 38:21 - 38:26
    Most people ain't never ate sugar cane raw today, black or white.
  • 38:28 - 38:37
    I work on the Dyer plantation for 12 long years, and I know what went on. I was there.
  • 38:38 - 38:40
    I guess I must have been about,
  • 38:42 - 38:45
    I guess I must have been about 22, 23.
  • 38:45 - 38:49
    Voice: All right, let's go!
  • 38:50 - 38:51
    [chopping]
  • 39:03 - 39:04
    Voice: You, you.
  • 39:06 - 39:07
    Woah.
  • 39:19 - 39:24
    Man: You all know and trust and love me. So, vote for me! Send me to Washington, to assure . . .
  • 39:24 - 39:30
    Old Jane: Colored politicians used to come 'round and sign us up for votes,
  • 39:30 - 39:34
    and more than just a few got sent to Washington,
  • 39:35 - 39:45
    but Reconstruction never really worked. It wasn't too long for carpetbaggers, black and white,
  • 39:45 - 39:49
    moved in to take from the South what the war didn't.
  • 39:50 - 39:56
    For awhile, yes, it looked like things was gonna be alright for us.
  • 39:56 - 40:01
    We had a little school on the place where we could go at night.
  • 40:03 - 40:07
    Ned, he must have been about 18 then.
  • 40:07 - 40:09
    [door bursts open, screaming]
  • 40:09 - 40:13
    Voice: . .. an education! I'm gonna give you an education!
  • 40:14 - 40:15
    [fire burning]
  • 40:15 - 40:18
    Woman screaming: God, no! No!
  • 40:24 - 40:26
    [woman screaming, baby crying]
  • 40:41 - 40:48
    Oh, my God! No!
  • 41:01 - 41:05
    Old Jane: Colonel Dyer was gettin' crazier by the day.
  • 41:06 - 41:10
    Sometimes, when it was June 4, like the war never ended.
  • 41:10 - 41:13
    Colonel: There's, uh, no more nigger politicians 'round here.
  • 41:14 - 41:21
    That schoolhouse up there is gonna stay shut down until I can find ya'll a competent teacher.
  • 41:21 - 41:26
    Ya'll don't need a pass to leave the place like before.
  • 41:26 - 41:29
    You all do right by me, and any group stops you on the road,
  • 41:29 - 41:33
    you just tell me, and I'll fix it right out!
  • 41:35 - 41:44
    I can't pay ya'll until the end of the year, but you can draw rations and clothing from the store.
  • 41:45 - 41:47
    If that suits ya, stay!
  • 41:48 - 41:50
    If that don't,
  • 41:52 - 41:59
    I catch up with them coattail-flying scalawags and the rest of them hot-footin' niggers.
  • 42:10 - 42:14
    Old Jane: Ned started teaching the people to write.
  • 42:15 - 42:19
    He even wrote to Washington DC, but they never wrote back.
  • 42:20 - 42:28
    You know, he found out about committees being formed that helped the coloreds with their rights,
  • 42:28 - 42:31
    and so he formed one too.
  • 42:31 - 42:34
    Ned: . . . and there ain't no such taxes for protecting living.
  • 42:34 - 42:39
    If someone tries to burn your crop, tell us. We know how to prosecute.
  • 42:40 - 42:46
    Old Jane: The vigilantes heard about Ned's committee, and they started watching him,
  • 42:46 - 42:49
    but that didn't stop him none.
  • 42:53 - 43:00
    [horse galloping]
  • 43:07 - 43:08
    Man: Where's he at?
  • 43:08 - 43:09
    Woman: Who? Who? Who?
  • 43:09 - 43:11
    Man: You know who I'm talking about!
  • 43:11 - 43:16
    Ned Stephen Douglas! That's who, or whatever he's calling himself these days.
  • 43:16 - 43:17
    Woman: I don't know where he is.
  • 43:17 - 43:19
    Man 2: She don't know, Bull!
  • 43:20 - 43:22
    Bull: Still don't know where he's at?
  • 43:22 - 43:27
    We'll get him. I'm telling you, that boy of yours better stop being so serious.
  • 43:27 - 43:29
    I don't like him getting so serious, you understand!
  • 43:29 - 43:33
    Man 2: She understands!
  • 43:35 - 43:38
    Voices: Come on, let's go! We'll find him.
  • 43:40 - 43:42
    [horses galloping away]
  • 43:46 - 43:47
    [music]
  • 43:52 - 43:54
    [door opening]
  • 43:58 - 44:00
    Ned: Ma, what happened?
  • 44:00 - 44:04
    Jane: [mumbling] Eat your food!
  • 44:04 - 44:06
    Ned: This! What happened?
  • 44:08 - 44:10
    Jane: They was here lookin' for you tonight, Ned.
  • 44:11 - 44:13
    They're fixin' to kill ya.
  • 44:14 - 44:16
    They will, if you don't leave this place.
  • 44:16 - 44:18
    Ned: I can't, Mama. You know that.
  • 44:18 - 44:19
    Jane: Ya got to!
  • 44:19 - 44:21
    Ned: I can't leave these people.
  • 44:21 - 44:25
    They haven't got anybody else who will fight for them, except the Commitee.
  • 44:25 - 44:28
    Jane: Ned, you ain't worth nothin' to nobody dead.
  • 44:29 - 44:36
    You pack your things now. Take the road to New Orleans, and take a boat leaving' for Kansas.
  • 44:36 - 44:38
    Ned: You come with me then.
  • 44:38 - 44:42
    Jane: No, I can't. I can't, Ned. I'm tired here.
  • 44:47 - 44:50
    Ned: You're comin' with me, Mama. They'll hurt you again.
  • 44:51 - 44:55
    Jane: They can't do me nothin', Ned. I don't have what you have.
  • 44:55 - 45:00
    I don't have the urge. I know the land, but you know the peoples.
  • 45:00 - 45:05
    Got to 'em, Ned. Talk to 'em. Show 'em.
  • 45:05 - 45:07
    Ned: You have to come with me.
  • 45:08 - 45:12
    Jane: No. It's not my time.
  • 45:12 - 45:18
    Ned: I'll stop. I'll stop the teachin's. I'll stop the writing, the letters.
  • 45:18 - 45:22
    Jane: You know that's not right, and that ain't what none of us wants.
  • 45:24 - 45:27
    Ned: I don't wanna leave, Mama. I don't want us to separate.
  • 45:29 - 45:35
    Jane: I know, but it has to be. I knew the day would come.
  • 45:35 - 45:40
    You know, I never did tell ya, but the first time you ever read to us,
  • 45:40 - 45:42
    I knew that you was the one.
  • 45:45 - 45:48
    I won't hold ya back, Ned. I won't hold ya back.
  • 45:48 - 45:52
  • 45:52 - 45:55
    Ned: Mama, Mama, Mama [crying]
  • 45:55 - 46:01
    Jane: Make me proud. Make me proud.
  • 46:30 - 46:36
    Ned: Mama, keep them for me.
  • 46:38 - 46:41
    Make sure they git to Ohio same time we do.
  • 46:50 - 46:52
    [footsteps on grass]
  • 47:10 - 47:12
    [sobbing]
  • 47:40 - 47:43
    [music and galloping horses]
  • 48:09 - 48:12
    Old Jane: I didn't hear from Ned for a whole year.
  • 48:13 - 48:21
    I guess that was about '75 or '76, the same year I first saw Joe Pittman.
  • 48:22 - 48:28
    I had him over to supper, and we started seein' each other from time to time.
  • 48:29 - 48:36
    and, as things happened b'tweens people, one thing led to another.
  • 48:45 - 48:46
    [music]
  • 49:08 - 49:13
    Joe: But after a time, there were too many and no jobs,
  • 49:13 - 49:18
    and people started freezin' to death of cold.
  • 49:19 - 49:21
    Others got starvin'.
  • 49:23 - 49:32
    Then the protests, riots came, and people started going off to other states.
  • 49:33 - 49:43
    I am still goin' to school, college now. When I'm ready, I'm comin' back home.
  • 49:44 - 49:48
    In the meantime, here's $3.00
  • 49:50 - 49:52
    [crinkling]
  • 49:57 - 50:04
    and God bless you, Mama. All my love, Ned.
  • 50:04 - 50:08
    Well, Little Mama, took a whole year, but you finally heard from yer boy.
  • 50:09 - 50:11
    Ever tell him about us?
  • 50:14 - 50:17
    When you gonna tell him about Clyde Ranch?
  • 50:18 - 50:20
    Jane: Ain't said I'm gonna go yet.
  • 50:20 - 50:22
    Joe: Oh, you're goin'. That's all there is to it.
  • 50:22 - 50:24
    I'm leavin', and you're goin with me.
  • 50:25 - 50:28
    Jane: Well, how's Ned gonna know where to write to me?
  • 50:28 - 50:32
    Joe: Well, we'll send him a photograph of us up on a horse, wild west style.
  • 50:33 - 50:34
    [laughing]
  • 50:36 - 50:38
    Jane: I ain't gettin on no horse or nuttin.
  • 50:38 - 50:40
    Joe: Yeah, you're comin' with me, Little Mama.
  • 50:41 - 50:42
    [laughing]
  • 50:49 - 50:54
    Old Jane: By then, Colonel Dyer was so forgetful. He'd call us all out to him,
  • 50:54 - 50:58
    and then he couldn't remember what we was there for.
  • 50:58 - 50:59
    [laughing]
  • 51:08 - 51:13
    Colonel: Whatcha all doin', standin' and starin'? Go get on back to work.
  • 51:16 - 51:18
    [people mumbling]
  • 51:24 - 51:26
    Joe: Colonel, we're leavin'.
  • 51:27 - 51:29
    Colonel: You what?
  • 51:29 - 51:31
    Joe: Jane and me are goin'.
  • 51:33 - 51:36
    Colonel: Whatsa matter, Joe? Ain't I treatin' you right?
  • 51:37 - 51:40
    Joe: It ain't that at all, Colonel. We've been treated very good here,
  • 51:40 - 51:44
    but I wanna go out and do a little share croppin' on my own.
  • 51:46 - 51:52
    Colonel: Listen, Joe. I'll, ah, turn over that piece of good bottom land to ya.
  • 51:52 - 51:54
    You can work it like you want.
  • 51:58 - 52:03
    Joe, you a good man. I need ya'll around here,
  • 52:05 - 52:07
    and there ain't much happened since the war,
  • 52:07 - 52:11
    and there ain't another nigger on this place that can work a horse like you.
  • 52:11 - 52:17
    You people's the happiest damn creatures on God's green Earth. I wanna do right by ya'll.
  • 52:17 - 52:20
    Joe: Mighty grateful, Colonel, mighty grateful,
  • 52:20 - 52:23
    but, Jane and me, we want to go off on our own.
  • 52:25 - 52:31
    Colonel: You ain't grateful. Hell. You wanna share crop, share crop! See what I care!
  • 52:32 - 52:34
    Joe: Thank you, Sir.
  • 52:35 - 52:40
    Colonel: Just a minute. Ain't you forgettin somethin?
  • 52:49 - 52:51
    Where my $50?
  • 52:56 - 52:57
    Joe: What $50?
  • 52:57 - 53:00
    Colonel: Oh, you forgot that, did ya?
  • 53:01 - 53:02
    Well, I ain't.
  • 53:04 - 53:07
    That $50 to get you all outta that trouble with the Klutchers.
  • 53:09 - 53:10
    Joe: That ain't bothers me.
  • 53:10 - 53:16
    Colonel: Course it ain't! Ya'll mixed up in a little politics there after the war.
  • 53:16 - 53:18
    Everybody around here knew it.
  • 53:21 - 53:23
    Joe: I didn't know you paid.
  • 53:24 - 53:28
    Colonel: Those Klutchers don't stop doin what they do, just cuz ya'll say it holy.
  • 53:29 - 53:35
    Now, you pay up, or else.
  • 53:43 - 53:45
    [footsteps on grass]
  • 53:49 - 53:50
    [music]
  • 53:50 - 53:52
    Old Jane: We had to sell everything we own.
  • 53:54 - 54:01
    $1.00 for the chair, $5.00 for the hoe. Shotgun got $7.00.
  • 54:08 - 54:12
    Finally, Joe did what he had to do.
  • 54:13 - 54:24
    He sold his beautiful horse, the one he trained special, the one he rode so proud.
  • 54:49 - 54:50
    Colonel: Well?
  • 54:51 - 54:55
    Joe: Here's the money, Colonel. I'll count it out, so as you're sure it's all there.
  • 54:55 - 54:57
    Colonel: It all there.
  • 55:04 - 55:07
    You're a smart one, ain'tcha?
  • 55:08 - 55:16
    Well I got news. Time lap come to five more dollars.
  • 55:17 - 55:18
    Joe: You didn't say nuttin about that.
  • 55:19 - 55:21
    Jane: But you ain't got no more!
  • 55:21 - 55:25
    Colonel: I got legal rights, by interest.
  • 55:29 - 55:31
    Joe: What are ya doin', Jane? That's your wedding ring.
  • 55:31 - 55:33
    Jane: That's our freedom!
  • 55:46 - 55:47
    [music]
  • 55:48 - 55:55
    Old Jane: It took ten days of hard walkin' til we reached east Texas and the Clyde Ranch.
  • 55:57 - 55:59
    [music]
  • 56:06 - 56:08
    [horses galloping and neighing]
  • 56:14 - 56:14
    [music]
  • 57:18 - 57:20
    [laughing]
  • 57:38 - 57:44
    Old Jane: Joe was a cheap beggar. Everybody call him, Cheap Pittmann.
  • 57:45 - 57:52
    He'd bring horses in from Texas, and he would ride the ones nobody else could.
  • 57:53 - 57:58
    Oh, he was a poet the way he rode.
  • 57:59 - 58:01
    [horses running, dog growling]
  • 58:09 - 58:14
    Men shouting: Get'em in there. Come on. Get 'em in! Yah! Yah! Yah! Get 'em in there!
  • 58:21 - 58:27
    Old Jane: The next summer, Joe brought in a horse like I've never seen before.
  • 58:28 - 58:31
    It sent a chill down my spine the way it looked.
  • 58:33 - 58:36
    I knew it was something evil.
  • 58:39 - 58:40
    [music]
  • 59:08 - 59:11
    [knocking on door]
  • 59:13 - 59:17
    Jane: And when I see that old white devil horse coming to Clyde Ranch,
  • 59:17 - 59:22
    he'd just stand there, keep alaughing at me. Laughing at me, I know it! I know it!
  • 59:22 - 59:24
    Woman: Be calm. Be calm.
  • 59:25 - 59:29
    Before we go on, how many children have you given Joe Pittman?
  • 59:33 - 59:34
    Jane: I'm barren.
  • 59:36 - 59:41
    Woman: That tis it. Have you told him?
  • 59:43 - 59:44
    Jane: No.
  • 59:44 - 59:46
    Woman: [speaking in another language]
  • 59:46 - 59:53
    This is why he ride the horses, to prove something. This is man's way.
  • 59:54 - 59:57
    Jane: You think that old horse gonna kill him?
  • 59:59 - 60:02
    Woman: (sighs) You want the true response?
  • 60:04 - 60:05
    Jane: Yes.
  • 60:05 - 60:08
    Woman: [foreign language] Money.
  • 60:19 - 60:20
    [bracelets jingle]
  • 60:40 - 60:42
    [wind blows, plates clatter]
  • 60:47 - 60:49
    Woman: You may go if you want.
  • 60:53 - 60:54
    Jane: I want to know.
  • 60:56 - 60:57
    Woman: You are brave, my dear.
  • 61:00 - 61:04
    Jane: Does that mean that old white devil horse gonna kill my Joe?
  • 61:05 - 61:08
    Woman: [foreign language] I did not say that.
  • 61:09 - 61:11
    Jane: But that's answer.
  • 61:13 - 61:15
    [music, horse walking]
  • 61:34 - 61:35
    [footsteps]
  • 61:52 - 61:54
    [horse galloping]
  • 62:07 - 62:09
    Joe: My Jane, whatcha doin'?
  • 62:09 - 62:16
    Jane: Let it be, Joe. Please! Let him be. Let him be, Joe! Oh!
  • 62:19 - 62:20
    Please!
  • 62:22 - 62:29
    Please! Let him go, Joe! Let him go! Oh!
  • 62:31 - 62:34
    Let him be! Oh!
  • 62:37 - 62:41
    Let him be. Let him be.
  • 63:07 - 63:07
    No!
  • 63:09 - 63:10
    No!
  • 63:11 - 63:13
    No! Noooo! No!
  • 63:14 - 63:17
    [screaming, crying]
  • 63:23 - 63:31
    Old Jane: We buried him at the ranch. The rodeo went on as always, but before it started,
  • 63:32 - 63:33
    [bell ringing]
  • 63:34 - 63:38
    they tolled the bell for Joe Pittman.
  • 63:54 - 64:02
    When Joe Pittman was killed, part of me went with him into his grave.
  • 64:05 - 64:15
    No man would ever take the place of Joe Pittman, and that's why I carry his name to this day.
  • 64:17 - 64:27
    Well, I known two or three other mens, but none took the place of Joe Pittman.
  • 64:29 - 64:32
    I let them know that from the very start.
  • 64:38 - 64:39
    [sniffling]
  • 64:43 - 64:47
    Have I got to the part about Albert Cooper yet?
  • 64:48 - 64:49
    Man: No, Ma'am.
  • 64:49 - 64:53
    Old Jane: When Ned, when he'd come back that time from Cooper.
  • 64:55 - 64:56
    Lena: Not yet, Jane.
  • 64:57 - 65:12
    Old Jane: Oh, I thought I did. It was . . . I was takin' in laundry then. It was about the turn of the century.
  • 65:14 - 65:26
    I was fishing that day on my place in Forrest River, when I saw him coming around the bend.
  • 65:29 - 65:41
    It was 20 years since I'd seen him, but I knew it was my Ned the moment I laid eyes on him.
  • 65:43 - 65:45
    Yes, I did.
  • 65:47 - 65:49
    [music]
  • 67:06 - 67:08
    Jane: Put me down.
  • 67:24 - 67:26
    Ned: Mm,mm, mm. [chuckles]
  • 67:26 - 67:28
    I'm getting made 'cause I'm full!
  • 67:28 - 67:29
    [laughing]
  • 67:29 - 67:33
    Jane: Well, I made some of my favorite puddin'.
  • 67:34 - 67:36
    And for you, little bitty.
  • 67:38 - 67:40
    Woman: Thank you, Miss Jane.
  • 67:40 - 67:41
    Jane: That's for you.
  • 67:44 - 67:51
    Ned: So anyway, we, we got used to the small shot whizzing around us,
  • 67:51 - 67:54
    but when one of those big ones hit, whoa! [laughs]
  • 67:54 - 67:59
    We sometimes found ourselves in a lively dispute over the proprietorship of the nearest tree.
  • 67:59 - 68:00
    [laughing]
  • 68:01 - 68:08
    Woman: Now don't go talkin' like you spent the whole Spanish American War hiding behind a tree. Tell her what the newspaper says.
  • 68:08 - 68:10
    Jane: You get your name in the newspaper?
  • 68:10 - 68:16
    Ned: Not me personally, Mama, but I guess folks by now know about the 10th Calvary.
  • 68:16 - 68:19
    Woman: Miss Jane, the newspaper in Washington say that
  • 68:19 - 68:22
    the Rough Riders would never made up Sandmond Hill,
  • 68:22 - 68:25
    if it hadn't been for the black soldiers fightin' beside 'em.
  • 68:25 - 68:27
    Ned: Ahead of them sometimes.
  • 68:27 - 68:28
    [laughing]
  • 68:29 - 68:31
    Jane: And you didn't get hit in all that shootin'?
  • 68:35 - 68:37
    Ned: No, never.
  • 68:39 - 68:44
    I saw men, dead and dying all around me, black, white, Spanish.
  • 68:45 - 68:49
    I began to feel like I was alive for a reason.
  • 68:53 - 68:54
    [bowl set down on table]
  • 68:54 - 68:56
    Jane: Come back to teach?
  • 68:58 - 69:03
    Ned: I checked around, Mama. You know you don't have a school on the river.
  • 69:05 - 69:11
    Jane: Well... ain't nothing change here either.
  • 69:11 - 69:15
    Woman: Yeah, he stopped talking about much he'd have to do, Miss Jane.
  • 69:15 - 69:19
    Jane: It can get that way. Hmm, mm hmm.
  • 69:19 - 69:24
    Woman: Yeah, we both so pleased. I know my Ned can accomplish a great deal here.
  • 69:28 - 69:30
    Jane: You made up your mind, ain't ya, Ned?
  • 69:30 - 69:34
    Ned: That war in Cuba taught me a lot of things, Mama.
  • 69:35 - 69:36
    Jane: Well,
  • 69:38 - 69:42
    Ned, I want to tell ya,
  • 69:43 - 69:48
    if you're fixin' to use O' Thomas's Church, he ain't gonna let ya.
  • 69:55 - 69:57
    Ned: I know that it is hard for you to come here
  • 69:57 - 70:01
    and discouraging when so many said they would come and didn't,
  • 70:01 - 70:03
    but we must not give up.
  • 70:06 - 70:07
    We are not alone.
  • 70:09 - 70:15
    Listen to what Mr. Frederick Douglas wrote to us from the North 50 years ago.
  • 70:17 - 70:20
    Remember that we are one, that our cause is one,
  • 70:20 - 70:25
    and that we must help one another if we would succeed.
  • 70:25 - 70:30
    We have drunk to the drags the bitter cup of, of slavery.
  • 70:36 - 70:41
    We have worn a heavy yoke. We have sighed beneath our bonds.
  • 70:43 - 70:46
    We have rised to the bloody lash.
  • 70:48 - 70:54
    Cruel mementos of our oneness are indelibly marked in our living flesh.
  • 70:56 - 70:57
    [horses neighing]
  • 71:03 - 71:06
    Old Jane: And that's where Albert Cooper come in.
  • 71:06 - 71:14
    He already killed 12 people, black and white. Like chopping wood, he used ta say.
  • 71:17 - 71:19
    Jane: Why you always talking about killing for?
  • 71:19 - 71:24
    Albert: I'm the best. I don't brag so much. He, hee! Oh!
  • 71:28 - 71:37
    Hey, Jane! You cook this up for me tonight. I, ya, tell you something important.
  • 71:39 - 71:40
    Jane: What's important?
  • 71:40 - 71:48
    Albert: They talk to me about your boy there, Jane. They don't want him build that school there, no?
  • 71:50 - 71:58
    They say he could just stir up trouble for niggers. They want him go back, back where he come from.
  • 72:02 - 72:09
    They don't know Albert tell you this. They want me stop him.
  • 72:10 - 72:11
    Jane: You mean kill my boy?
  • 72:14 - 72:23
    Albert: I tell them, I say, me, you, we all can fish on Saint Char River. I tell them I eat at your house.
  • 72:24 - 72:26
    Jane: Can you kill my boy?
  • 72:26 - 72:29
    Albert: They don't like he preach on the river way he do.
  • 72:31 - 72:33
    Jane: Can you kill my boy?
  • 72:33 - 72:36
    Albert: I do whatever they tell Albert.
  • 72:37 - 72:38
    Jane: Can you kill my boy?
  • 72:38 - 72:39
    Albert: Yes!
  • 72:42 - 72:46
    Yes, I can, Miss Jane.
  • 72:52 - 72:53
    [music]
  • 72:55 - 72:58
    [people talking and laughing]
  • 73:35 - 73:38
    Ned: Mama, Mama! Where you been? What ya runnin' all this way for?
  • 73:38 - 73:40
    Jane: Ned! You gotta leave this place.
  • 73:41 - 73:42
    Ned: I'm not going to, Mama.
  • 73:42 - 73:44
    Jane: You gotta leave Ned!
  • 73:44 - 73:48
    Ned: Mama, that's just what they want me to do! I ran once, never again.
  • 73:49 - 73:51
    Jane: Make him take you and Elizabeth out to Kansas.
  • 73:51 - 73:54
    Ned: Mama. Mama, look at all these people out here.
  • 73:54 - 73:58
    These are my people; this is my home! Now, they're not afraid!
  • 73:58 - 74:00
    They came to listen, and I'm gonna to speak.
  • 74:02 - 74:03
    Jane: Ned.
  • 74:27 - 74:33
    Ned: You got some black men who'll tell you, that the white man's the worst thing on the Earth,
  • 74:34 - 74:39
    but let me tell you this: all men are the same.
  • 74:40 - 74:43
    The same evil you see in Whites, you see in Blacks,
  • 74:43 - 74:49
    and likewise, the good to be found is in all men, White and Black.
  • 74:50 - 74:53
    The enemy is not skin!
  • 74:54 - 74:56
    It's ignorance.
  • 74:56 - 75:00
    It was ignorance that put us here in the first place.
  • 75:01 - 75:05
    Ignorance, because the big tribes of Africa warred against each other,
  • 75:05 - 75:08
    or made slaves out of the smaller tribes.
  • 75:09 - 75:13
    Our own black people put us in pens like hogs,
  • 75:14 - 75:18
    destroying entire civilizations with rum and beads,
  • 75:20 - 75:26
    and it was still the African, this time the Arabs who sold us on the block.
  • 75:27 - 75:30
    The white man didn't need guns because we were weak.
  • 75:31 - 75:35
    The French, the Spanish, the Portuguese, they took us because
  • 75:36 - 75:40
    we were ignorant. We were apart from one another.
  • 75:41 - 75:43
    You got folks here saying,
  • 75:43 - 75:46
    Let's go back to Africa. Let's go to Liberia.
  • 75:46 - 75:53
    Well, I am not African! I'm American, a black American, and proud of it!
  • 75:53 - 76:01
    Look inside yourself and say , What am I? What else besides this, this black skin?
  • 76:04 - 76:07
    Do you know what a nigger is?
  • 76:08 - 76:12
    First, a nigger feels below anything else on this Earth.
  • 76:13 - 76:16
    He doesn't care about himself.
  • 76:16 - 76:19
    He doesn't care about anybody else.
  • 76:19 - 76:22
    He doesn't care about anything.
  • 76:22 - 76:27
    He'll never be an American. He'll never be a citizen of any other nation,
  • 76:30 - 76:35
    but there's a big difference between a black American
  • 76:36 - 76:38
    and a nigger.
  • 76:39 - 76:46
    A black American cares, and he knows, and he struggles.
  • 76:46 - 76:49
    That's why I'm telling you this.
  • 76:49 - 76:53
    That's why I know that no son or daughter of mine will ever be a nigger.
  • 76:55 - 76:59
    I want my children to be black and proud of it.
  • 77:13 - 77:17
    This, this land, America, belongs to us all,
  • 77:18 - 77:24
    but, I don't mean that we own it, but that it's God's,
  • 77:24 - 77:27
    and that makes it as much ours as any man's.
  • 77:28 - 77:31
    You are not vested by no man.
  • 77:33 - 77:39
    Be Americans, but first, be men!
  • 77:39 - 77:42
    [clapping]
  • 77:54 - 77:56
    Ned: I'm gonna die, Mama.
  • 78:04 - 78:07
    [horse and wagon on gravel road]
  • 78:49 - 78:54
    Albert: Ned. I tell you, you get down outta da wagon.
  • 78:57 - 78:58
    [cocking the gun]
  • 78:58 - 79:01
    Get down out of da wagon, Ned!
  • 79:03 - 79:06
    Man in wagon: Ain't got nuttin' but a double barrel, Ned.
  • 79:06 - 79:09
    He gonna need both of them to bring me down.
  • 79:10 - 79:12
    Ned: Take the lumber and finish the school.
  • 79:12 - 79:14
    Man in wagon: Ned, let me take him.
  • 79:16 - 79:21
    Ned: Talk to Mama. Talk to Vivian. It's important.
  • 79:21 - 79:24
    Man in wagon: Ned, you're important. Let me take him.
  • 79:24 - 79:30
    Ned: Sam, do as I say. Else he'll get us both.
  • 79:49 - 79:52
    [horse and wagon on gravel road]
  • 80:05 - 80:08
    Albert: I tell you mama about all dis.
  • 80:09 - 80:11
    Ned: What took you so long?
  • 80:12 - 80:14
    Albert: Albert have all de time in de world.
  • 80:21 - 80:22
    [gunshot]
  • 80:26 - 80:29
    Albert: They tell Albert, Make you crawl first!
  • 80:31 - 80:32
    Ned: No!
  • 80:33 - 80:38
    Albert: Crawl! Crawl! Get down and crawl, and we get this over with!
  • 80:38 - 80:39
    Ned: No!
  • 80:39 - 80:40
    [gunshot]
  • 80:51 - 80:53
    [music]
  • 81:25 - 81:31
    Old Jane: I can explain all my sorrow and feeling on that day.
  • 81:33 - 81:37
    I remember talking to him like he was still alive.
  • 81:39 - 81:45
    For days, weeks, folks always stayed with me
  • 81:46 - 81:49
    'cause they were afraid I was gonna lose my mind.
  • 81:49 - 81:54
    Man on radio: . . . to not have a policy which gave any assurances of success
  • 81:54 - 81:57
    in which the Soviet Union has already effectively, has rejected.
  • 81:57 - 81:58
    Reporter: Thank you, Mr. President.
  • 81:58 - 82:00
    President on radio: No, thank you.
  • 82:01 - 82:12
    Man on radio: In Massachusetts, the possibility that JFK's younger brother, 30-year-old Teddy, running for the 1962 Democratic nomination. . .
  • 82:12 - 82:18
    Lena: There to put your foot in your mouth again. No, oaf it the. . .
  • 82:18 - 82:21
    Old Jane: Well, back again, huh?
  • 82:21 - 82:24
    Man: Yes, Ma'am. I, I tried to get into see Jimmy, but uh . . .
  • 82:24 - 82:30
    Od Jane: But Gidry wouldn't let ya? That old Gidry. He makes me sick.
  • 82:31 - 82:33
    You ain't hadn't yer fill of me yet?
  • 82:33 - 82:35
    Man: No, Ma'am.
  • 82:36 - 82:41
    Old Jane: Well, when did I come to this place?
  • 82:43 - 82:53
    Lena: Was early 20's, 19 and 25, the time of the Kingfish, you in law.
  • 82:54 - 83:04
    Old Jane: No. I seem to remember it was before the High Water, 19 and 27.
  • 83:07 - 83:11
    I'd slowed up in the field, but I rode around to the peoples
  • 83:12 - 83:14
    to let them know I was still alive and kicking.
  • 83:14 - 83:18
    Woman: Well, well, if it ain't Miss High Class.
  • 83:18 - 83:22
    Jane: Just my noon stroll, Lena. My noon stroll.
  • 83:23 - 83:27
    Lena: Well, that's how it is with the Indian prince. Me, I got work for a living.
  • 83:27 - 83:28
    [laughs]
  • 83:33 - 83:35
    Jane: Whoa, Rex, whoa!
  • 83:35 - 83:38
    Man: Well, hey there, Miss Jane. How ya all?
  • 83:38 - 83:42
    Jane: Mr. Ralph, what ya doing out here in the fan for?
  • 83:43 - 83:46
    Ralph: How'd ya'll like to come work inside the main house?
  • 83:46 - 83:52
    Jane: What for? You ain't thinking I'm too old to work the fields anymore, is ya?
  • 83:52 - 83:56
    Man: Oh no, no, no. Miss Aberdeen needs help with the two boys, that's all.
  • 83:56 - 83:58
    How old you now, Jane?
  • 83:59 - 84:02
    Jane: 70, give or take a little.
  • 84:03 - 84:04
    Man: Ya'll know how to cook?
  • 84:04 - 84:09
    Jane: Well now, I've been doing it for nigh on six years. Ain't poisoned nobody yet.
  • 84:09 - 84:10
    [chuckles]
  • 84:10 - 84:14
    Old Jane: Sometimes, it seemed like we was one big family.
  • 84:14 - 84:22
    We played baseball every Sunday. The score would be 50-0 or 41-8.
  • 84:22 - 84:26
    [voices] . . . We need another one of those home runs. Bring it down a little. . .
  • 84:36 - 84:38
    [clapping, cheering]
  • 84:40 - 84:46
    Old Jane: I was too old to play, so they stuck a cap on me from my favorite team,
  • 84:46 - 84:49
    the Brooklyn Dodgers, and they made me the ump.
  • 84:49 - 84:55
    I don't mind tellin' ya, I was too old. I was half-blind, really, for them calls,
  • 84:56 - 85:00
    but they made me ump by a new-batted plate anyway.
  • 85:00 - 85:06
    Jane: I say, you're out. You're out! I'm the ump. Out!
  • 85:06 - 85:09
    Old Jane: Oh! We sure had some fun.
  • 85:10 - 85:17
    We was always looking for somebody to lead em'. They did it during slavery,
  • 85:17 - 85:20
    they did during the War, and they doing it now.
  • 85:21 - 85:27
    They always doing the hard times, and the Lord always obliges 'em.
  • 85:29 - 85:33
    When a child is born, whole folks look at him and ask,
  • 85:33 - 85:35
    Is you the one?
  • 85:35 - 85:41
    When Lena had her baby boy, all the folks looked at him and say,
  • 85:41 - 85:44
    You the one, Jimmy? Is you the one?
  • 85:45 - 85:48
    'Cause I always knew he was.
  • 85:52 - 85:54
    Jimmy: You want Dick Tracy?
  • 85:54 - 85:56
    Jane: You done did your figures for the day yet?
  • 85:56 - 86:00
    Jimmy: Yes'm. Multiplication tables are coming out of my ears.
  • 86:01 - 86:06
    Jane: All right. I don't want no funnies today though. Read me the sports page.
  • 86:06 - 86:09
    I want to hear what they say about my Jackie.
  • 86:09 - 86:12
    Jimmy: He stoled three bases and hit two home runs.
  • 86:13 - 86:14
    Jane: He did not.
  • 86:15 - 86:17
    Jimmy: It says so right here, Miss Jane.
  • 86:18 - 86:27
    Jane: Unh. I heard the game last night on the radio, smart boy. Dodgers lost.
  • 86:27 - 86:29
    Jimmy: Yes'm, but so did the Yankees.
  • 86:29 - 86:36
    Jane: Uh huh! You see there? Jackie and the Dodgers is for the colored folks anyway,
  • 86:37 - 86:40
    just like Joe Louis was. You know who he is?
  • 86:40 - 86:43
    Jimmy: You told me, Miss Jane.
  • 86:43 - 86:44
    Jane: Yeah.
  • 86:45 - 86:53
    Well, did I tell ya that he let Schmeling beat him the first time just to teach us a lesson? Did I?
  • 86:55 - 87:04
    Well, he did, but oooh, boy, that second time was somethin' else!
  • 87:04 - 87:09
    [laughing] Mmm, hmm, mmm.
  • 87:14 - 87:20
    Old Jane: Unc Gilly used to show us all how Schmeling fell when Joe Louis hit 'im.
  • 87:21 - 87:26
    Oh, he was famous for that, old as he was,
  • 87:32 - 87:38
    and years later, that's how he died, showing folks how Schmeling fell when Joe hit 'im.
  • 87:38 - 87:41
    [laughter]
  • 87:43 - 87:50
    Peoples in the quarters was takin' notice of Jimmy, how he recite numbers and like school.
  • 87:50 - 87:55
    They was always sayin', he gonna be a credit to his race, that one.
  • 87:55 - 88:01
    When he got older, he went away to school. I didn't see him for 10 long years,
  • 88:01 - 88:06
    and that was the beginning of the civil rights troubles.
  • 88:07 - 88:11
    Reverend: Help us, O Lord, and show us the way.
  • 88:13 - 88:14
    [footsteps]
  • 88:23 - 88:24
    Reverend: Amen.
  • 88:30 - 88:35
    Jimmy: I'm here for your help. You know what's going on all over the country,
  • 88:36 - 88:45
    all over the South. I've met the Rev. King. I've eaten at his home. I've been to his church.
  • 88:45 - 88:47
    I've even gone to jail with him.
  • 88:47 - 88:52
    I was with him when he was winning the battle in Alabama and Mississippi,
  • 88:52 - 88:59
    but you people here, my own folks, haven't even begun to fight.
  • 88:59 - 89:02
    Reverend: Hold it! Hold it right there.
  • 89:02 - 89:05
    You don't come to our church no more, Jimmy.
  • 89:05 - 89:07
    Jimmy: I am here now, and I have something to say.
  • 89:07 - 89:09
    Reverend: You have nothing to say!
  • 89:09 - 89:11
    You're just fixing to get us into a whole lot of trouble.
  • 89:11 - 89:12
    [slam]
  • 89:14 - 89:18
    Jane: Shut up, and listen to what Jimmy got to say.
  • 89:18 - 89:21
    Jimmy: Well, some people are thinking of carrying guns,
  • 89:21 - 89:24
    but we don't want anything to do with that nonsense.
  • 89:24 - 89:29
    Others want to carry flags. Well, what's a flag if you haven't got any meaning behind it?
  • 89:29 - 89:34
    All we have is our strength, the strength of our people. That's what gives us meaning.
  • 89:35 - 89:39
    We need your strength. We need your prayers.
  • 89:40 - 89:43
    We need you to stand with us because we have no other roots.
  • 89:43 - 89:48
    Reverend: Jimmy. I don't want no trouble for my people.
  • 89:51 - 89:57
    What you see here is all we are, nothing more than that.
  • 89:58 - 90:01
    We don't want to lose what little we have!
  • 90:03 - 90:06
    Jimmy: I'm sorry.
  • 90:06 - 90:11
    I'm sorry I have disturbed the church. I'm sorry.
  • 90:15 - 90:19
    [footsteps]
  • 90:19 - 90:22
    Lena whispers: Jimmy.
  • 90:32 - 90:38
    Old Jane: I was feeling poorly, so Miss Aberdeen was taking me to the doctor that day, when
  • 90:38 - 90:39
    [sirens wailing]
  • 91:04 - 91:08
    Sheriff: I'm sorry, Miss Aberdeen, the trouble we having here.
  • 91:08 - 91:12
    One thing after another since they passed that desegregation law there.
  • 91:12 - 91:14
    How you doing today, Granny?
  • 91:14 - 91:19
    Miss Aberdeen: You have to remember, Sheriff, she's over 100 years old.
  • 91:19 - 91:22
    Don't let all this upset you now, Jane. It's gonna be alright.
  • 91:23 - 91:25
    Sheriff: You all take care.
  • 91:27 - 91:30
    Mr. Aberdeen: That everybody? Good.
  • 91:33 - 91:37
    I wanted to remind every last one of ya'll,
  • 91:38 - 91:40
    ya'll living on this place for free.
  • 91:42 - 91:46
    You pay me no rent. You pay me no water bill.
  • 91:46 - 91:49
    You don't give me a turnip out of your garden.
  • 91:49 - 91:52
    You don't give one egg out of your henhouse.
  • 91:53 - 92:00
    You pick all the pecans you can find on the place. All I ask for is half, what I never get.
  • 92:00 - 92:04
    I ask ya for half of the berries you find, and you bring me a pocketful so dirty,
  • 92:04 - 92:07
    I wouldn't feed to 'em to a hog I don't like.
  • 92:09 - 92:13
    All right. I let all that go,
  • 92:15 - 92:18
    but this, I will not let go.
  • 92:20 - 92:24
    There ain't gonna be no demonstratin' on my place.
  • 92:26 - 92:30
    Anybody around here who thinks he needs more freedom than he got already
  • 92:30 - 92:34
    is free to pack up and leave now.
  • 92:34 - 92:40
    That go for the oldest one. That go for the youngest one. Jane too.
  • 92:42 - 92:45
    Who the last one had a baby down there?
  • 92:45 - 92:47
    Lena: Eva's little boy, Peter.
  • 92:49 - 92:54
    That go for Jane. That go for Eva's little boy, Peter.
  • 93:05 - 93:07
    Lena: There sure enough is somethin' goin' on.
  • 93:07 - 93:12
    You know Batlow and Rose down there in Dulaville's place?
  • 93:12 - 93:21
    Been there now 30 years? Batlow got mixed up in a demonstration in Baton Rouge yesterday.
  • 93:21 - 93:26
    Mr. Dulaville give 'em 24 hours to get off the place,
  • 93:26 - 93:33
    after 30 years! Gave them 24 hours to get off the place.
  • 93:37 - 93:40
    Old Jane's voice: . . . and ask, Is he the One?
  • 93:40 - 93:46
    When Lena had her baby, we all look at him and ask, Is you the One, Jimmy?
  • 93:47 - 93:50
    Is you the One? 'Cause -
  • 93:50 - 93:50
    [click]
  • 93:52 - 93:55
    [typing]
  • 93:55 - 93:57
    [phone rings]
  • 94:05 - 94:06
    Man: Yes?
  • 94:06 - 94:09
    Operator: I have a telephone call for ya, comin' in from New York City.
  • 94:09 - 94:11
    Man 2: Hello! Hello, Quintin!
  • 94:11 - 94:12
    Quintin: Yes, sir.
  • 94:12 - 94:16
    Man: I'm pulling you; you get to cover the John Glenn story in two days.
  • 94:16 - 94:20
    Quintin: Look, I know this space shot is a big thing, but this woman is -
  • 94:21 - 94:23
    well, she's not exactly another human interest story.
  • 94:23 - 94:26
    Man: Look, Quintin. I'm sure she's fascinating, but
  • 94:26 - 94:30
    a magazine this size can't survive on a story about an old woman.
  • 94:31 - 94:33
    I need someone to cover that blast off, dammit!
  • 94:33 - 94:36
    Now, if you can't go, then I'll send someone else.
  • 94:38 - 94:39
    Quintin?
  • 94:42 - 94:43
    Quintin, are you there?
  • 94:45 - 94:46
    Quintin: All right.
  • 94:46 - 94:48
    Man: All right, what?
  • 94:50 - 94:51
    Quintin: I'll be there.
  • 94:51 - 94:54
    Man: You have to be there tomorrow night.
  • 94:54 - 94:56
    Quintin: I said I'd be there.
  • 95:00 - 95:02
    Quintin: I'm leaving today, Miss Jane.
  • 95:03 - 95:09
    I'm, uh, gonna go watch a rocket take a man around the Earth.
  • 95:11 - 95:14
    It's, uh, it's never been done before.
  • 95:17 - 95:20
    Jane: You think I'm crazy.
  • 95:20 - 95:21
    Quintin: Ma'am?
  • 95:24 - 95:27
    Jane: I talk to this tree, you know.
  • 95:31 - 95:33
    Old Sister Oak.
  • 95:36 - 95:43
    Look at me. I'm goin' on 110 years old,
  • 95:44 - 95:48
    and now if it ain't the Lord that's keepin' me goin', what is it?
  • 95:51 - 95:56
    See? I can sit in the sun,
  • 95:57 - 96:05
    and I can walk, not like I used to, but I do pretty well.
  • 96:07 - 96:16
    Sometimes, when I feel fair good, I walk all the way down to the road,
  • 96:18 - 96:20
    and I look at the river,
  • 96:22 - 96:23
    gently though,
  • 96:24 - 96:33
    I just come up the quarters apiece, and I sit here, under this old oak.
  • 96:36 - 96:47
    Look. The peoples done fix me a nice, clean place to sit and talk with my God,
  • 96:49 - 96:59
    or sometimes, I sit here for an hour, just thanking Him for his blessings,
  • 97:01 - 97:04
    and then I go back home.
  • 97:10 - 97:14
    There's only just a few of us left, you know,
  • 97:15 - 97:25
    and I've seen enough years to last two lifetimes. I don't mind seeing a few more though.
  • 97:29 - 97:32
    He'll know when to call me,
  • 97:33 - 97:36
    and when He call me, I'll be ready.
  • 97:39 - 97:48
    Til then, I just have some of the children read me the Bible and the sports page, and,
  • 97:48 - 97:53
    and the funnies. I like the funnies too, you know,
  • 97:55 - 98:03
    and I do enjoy my vanilla ice cream. I have my vanilla ice cream. I like that.
  • 98:10 - 98:21
    You know, this oak tree, I'm sure it's been here as long as this place been here,
  • 98:23 - 98:27
    and I ain't ashamed to tell ya that I talk to it,
  • 98:28 - 98:31
    and I ain't crazy either.
  • 98:33 - 98:40
    It ain't, it ain't, necessary craziness to talk to the rivers and the trees,
  • 98:41 - 98:47
    'cause now when you talk to the ditches in the bayous, that's different,
  • 98:47 - 98:51
    'cause a ditch ain't nothin', and a bayou ain't much more!
  • 98:51 - 98:53
    [laughs]
  • 98:56 - 99:01
    But oh, the rivers and the trees,
  • 99:02 - 99:05
    that's unless, of course, you talking to a China Ball tree.
  • 99:05 - 99:10
    Anybody gettin' caught talkin' to a China Ball tree or a thorn tree,
  • 99:10 - 99:12
    they got to be crazy!
  • 99:16 - 99:25
    But an old oak, like this one here, that's been here all these years
  • 99:26 - 99:30
    and knows more than you'll ever know,
  • 99:33 - 99:41
    it ain't craziness, son. It's just the nobility you respects.
  • 99:50 - 99:56
    Well, you've found all you've come for.
  • 99:56 - 99:58
    Quintin: Yes, ma'am.
  • 100:05 - 100:07
    Jane: That's good.
  • 100:20 - 100:22
    [police sirens]
  • 100:25 - 100:27
    [people singing]
  • 100:29 - 100:30
    [tires on dirt road]
  • 100:30 - 100:35
    man on radio: Today's Sunday's service is from the First Baptist Church of Baton Rouge
  • 100:35 - 100:39
    and we will continue with some of your favorite music.
  • 100:49 - 100:50
    [car stopping]
  • 100:53 - 100:55
    [car door shuts]
  • 100:55 - 100:57
    Man: Ya'll stayin' right here on the quarters today.
  • 100:57 - 101:00
    Been some trouble in Bayonne don't want no body else to get hurt.
  • 101:00 - 101:03
    Lena: Who got hurt? Did my Jimmy get hurt?
  • 101:03 - 101:05
    Man: They shot him.
  • 101:05 - 101:07
    Old Jane: Is he dead?
  • 101:11 - 101:14
    [sobbing and crying]
  • 101:20 - 101:22
    Old Jane: Who shot him?
  • 101:22 - 101:24
    Man: Nobody knows.
  • 101:26 - 101:28
    Old Jane: Somebody knows.
  • 101:28 - 101:33
    Man: Well I don't know nothin' about it. Ya'll go on back now.
  • 101:35 - 101:36
    Old Jane: I'm going to Bayonne.
  • 101:37 - 101:41
    Man: What cha think you gonna find there except trouble Miss Jane. You're to old for that.
  • 101:42 - 101:43
    Old Jane: Jimmy.
  • 101:43 - 101:46
    Man: Didn't you just hear me say that he'd been shot.
  • 101:46 - 101:51
    Old Jane: He ain't dead no nothin'. Only a peace of him dead.
  • 101:52 - 101:55
    The rest of him is waiting for us in Bayonne.
  • 101:55 - 101:57
    And I'm going.
  • 101:57 - 102:02
    Man: Miss Jane, You'd been on my place as long as I can remember
  • 102:02 - 102:08
    You been part of my family. You raised me and both my boys.
  • 102:09 - 102:13
    But I'm telling you ain't going to Bayonne today.
  • 102:15 - 102:20
    Old Jane: Youz gonna tell me now that I have to leave your place?
  • 102:20 - 102:22
    Man: Those folks ain't you're problem.
  • 102:23 - 102:34
    Old Jane: Yes they are. The other day they throwed a girl in jail for trying to drink from the fountain.
  • 102:35 - 102:43
    Today they killed my Jimmy and I say I'm going.
  • 102:45 - 102:50
    Man on radio: Bayonne was a scene of more violence today. First reports indicate that
  • 102:50 - 102:54
    negro male prisoner died in a shooting incidence at the jail.
  • 102:54 - 102:57
    [tires squealing and spinning on dirt road]
  • 102:59 - 103:01
    [music]
  • 103:03 - 103:04
    [car door shuts]
  • 104:01 - 104:03
    [cane tapping the pavement]
  • 105:36 - 105:40
    [water splashing]
  • 107:29 - 107:30
    [car engine starts up]
  • 108:18 - 108:25
    Man: On July 19th 1962, 5 months after the last of these interviews was recorded
  • 108:25 - 108:29
    Miss Jane Pittmann died at the age of 110
  • 108:32 - 108:34
    [music]
Title:
The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman
Video Language:
English
Duration:
01:49:50

English subtitles

Revisions