The Slave Narrative of Willie Mae

The Slave Narrative of Willie Mae is a work of historical fiction written by the multidisciplinary artist Ifé Franklin. TSNWM began as blog posts and live readings. The Slave Narrative of Willie Mae, published in 2018 became a short film in 2021. TSMWM (book) was edited by writer, poet, actor, and owner of Wild Heart Press Letta Neeley. Neeley also wrote the script for the film. TSNWM is the narrative of Willie Mae Lenox, a 20-year-old woman enslaved in Virginia, mid 1800’s who sets upon her journey to freedom assisted by family members, abolitionists, African traditions, love, courage, and determination. My book and short film invite audiences into Willie Mae’s environment, creating connection and intimacy with those who lived their lives in chattel slavery. This story represents the transformation of the enslaved into freedom seekers on the path to complete sovereignty.

Images from film shoot: Wayne Lake.

BTS video footage: Ifé Franklin.

View “The Slave Narrative of Willie Mae” here.
View live reading of “The Slave Narrative of Willie Mae” here.

Behind The Scenes of The Slave Narrative of Willie Mae

The Behind-the-scenes footage of The Slave Narrative of Willie Mae was shot on the grounds of the historic site of The Royall House and Slave Quarters Medford, Massachusetts. In the first clip, Virginia mother of Willie Mae shows Willie Mae “De safe houses) on the freedom escape map. The next clips are of the ancestor dance circle, overseer Jack, Young Miss Ann, and Willie Mae.

Reviews

"The Slave Narrative of Willie Mae” is an “experimental performance” where the ubiquitous domestic servant’s tool, a broom, is replaced with a conjuration stick and a pencil in the hands of a young, enslaved woman seeking dominion over the trajectory of her life. Set on the Lenox Tobacco Plantation in 1842, Willie Mae rebukes the notion that she should follow the path of least resistance and pray to the wrong God for the wrong reasons. In the old “Negro” words of Frederick Douglas; life changed for Willie Mae when she decided to “pray with [her] feet.” In twenty-three and thirty-seven seconds, The Slave Narrative of Willie Mae weaves together the antebellum saga of feminine subjugation against the will power of the human spirit. The Filmmaker Ife Franklin has served up a ceremonial tribute dedicated to her Great-great grandmother Willie Mae that honors every woman who has gone before and who has come after in need of a reminder that freedom is a place

Phoenix Savage - Professor of art at Tugaloo University
“We often think of life as residing in individual bodies. We think about each other as if I were a Thing and you were a Thing….” Judith Snow The Power of Vulnerability. “This moving narrative, now a beautiful performance piece, invites the viewer to the continuum of time. A true metaphysician Ife Franklin invites us to see ourselves as the other. The piece is a mirror that reveals the power of perseverance at the heart of the human condition. It is a tale of freedom from bondage for Willie Mae and for this viewer a path to freedom from the bondage to self. It teaches us who we can be for ourselves and for one another. It is a thread that connects us. In the true role of artist, seeker, healer, Franklin receives the story uninterrupted and invites us not to be audience but rather to be participants in the work of our times.”

Michael Dowling - Art Director of Spoke Gallery
“The Slave Narrative of Willie Mae is History, Re-memory and the powerful resurrection of an ancestral femme! Ife Franklin’s debut as a filmmaker is brave, raw and hauntingly provocative.”

Portia Cobb - Associate Professor at the University of Wisconsin
“With ‘The Slave Narrative of Willie Mae’ Ife Franklin continues the work of conjuring the past and bringing it into the contemporary moment. Having seen this work evolve over the years, from journal entries to text works and performances, it has been heartening to see it come gloriously to life in filmic form. This work of deep remembrance is something you should see and reflect on, because if we don’t acknowledge our past, we can never quite make sense of our present. Ife’s work goes a long ways towards helping us to do that.”

Dawoud Bey - Educator at Columbia College, Chicago