Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narratives (2003)

5.2/10 • 75 min • History Documentary

Overview

When the Civil War ended in 1865, more than four million slaves were set free. Over 70 years later, the memories of some 2,000 slave-era survivors were transcribed and preserved by the Library of Congress. These first-person anecdotes, ranging from the brutal to the bittersweet, have been brought to vivid life in this unique HBO documentary special, featuring the on-camera voices of over a dozen top African-American actors.

Cast

Whoopi Goldberg

Narrator (voice)

Angela Bassett

Michael Boatman

Roscoe Lee Browne

Don Cheadle

Ossie Davis

Ruby Dee

Robert Guillaume

Jasmine Guy

Samuel L. Jackson

CCH Pounder

LaTanya Richardson Jackson

Ruben Santiago-Hudson

Roger Guenveur Smith

Courtney B. Vance

Vanessa Williams

Oprah Winfrey

Alfre Woodard

Recommendations

The Green Book: Guide to Freedom

Alone in the Wilderness

The Alabama Solution

John Candy: I Like Me

These Amazing Shadows

The Mystery of D.B. Cooper

Night Will Fall

Apollo: Missions to the Moon

Anna Nicole Smith: You Don't Know Me

The Unknown Known

Sherman's March