BPL@Night Presents Slavery By Another Name with Author Douglas Blackmon

The Wall Street Journal Atlanta bureau chief, Douglas Blackmon, will give a presentation about his groundbreaking book, Slavery By Another Name, a book which delves into the neo-slavery that existed among African Americans well into the 20th Century.

After abolition, tens of thousands of African Americans were wrongfully arrested, imprisoned, and charged outrageous “fines” that they had to pay off in work camps, sometimes for many years. The “prisoners” had no way to pay the fines so they were sold as forced laborers in all types of work, from lumberyards and coal mines to brickyards and farm plantations. This practice occurred until the outbreak of WWII.

Listen to the author discuss the "re-enslavement" of African Americans after the Civil War on a May 1 broadcast of Tavis Smiley.

Mr. Blackmon has been writing about race and politics in the South for over 20 years. He first began writing stories in his native Mississippi, then moved on to local newspapers, and worked for a time at The Atlanta Journal Constitution before becoming the Atlanta Bureau chief at The Wall Street Journal.

His book, published by Doubleday, will be on sale at the library.

The announcement for his visit to the Birmingham Public Library was listed in The New York Times recently and he will be hosted in the Arrington Auditorium of the downtown library. Light refreshments will be served.

Program Details
Where: The Arrington Auditorium at the Central Library
When: Tuesday, May 13
Time: 6:30 p.m.

BPL@Night is made possible, in part, by the Jefferson County Commission through the Jefferson County Community Arts Fund administered by the Cultural Alliance of Greater Birmingham, and by grants from the Alabama State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.

BPL thanks Compass Bank for its generous support of BPL@Night.

Photo by Michael A. Schwartz