Silver Dollar Road | Official Documentary Trailer - Prime Video - video Dailymotion

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Based on the ProPublica article, the documentary recounts the riveting narrative of the Reels family, led by the matriarch fondly known as "Mamie." Ever since the days following emancipation, the Reels family dedicated themselves to farming, fishing, and painstakingly forging a sustainable existence upon their expansive parcel of land nestled along the coastal reaches of North Carolina's Silver Dollar Road.  Their unwavering stance led to their wrongful conviction for civil contempt in 2011, resulting in the harshest sentence ever issued for such an offense in North Carolina—eight long years behind bars. Finally released in 2019, Mamie, Melvin, and Licurtis continue their arduous struggle to reclaim the land that was unjustly ripped from their ancestral embrace.  The documentary releases in select theaters on October 13th, and on Prime Video October 20th.

Transcript

00:00 (car engine revving)

00:02 It was town is what we always called it.

00:04 Grandma's taking us to town.

00:06 It was a beautiful memory until I became an adult

00:09 and realized some of the things that happened

00:11 that made me think this is not such a pretty place anymore.

00:15 Growing up here on Silver Dollar Road was so magical.

00:20 It was the one place you could go,

00:24 you wasn't worried about being targeted by the law.

00:28 (gentle music)

00:30 That property was so valuable

00:32 and not from a monetary standpoint,

00:34 but valuable because of the history.

00:37 The first owner of the property,

00:39 he was born in slavery times.

00:41 My great-grandfather died without a living will.

00:44 Before he died, he said, "Whatever you do,

00:48 "don't let the white man have my land."

00:50 Okay, yeah.

00:53 This is our beach.

00:55 This is our land.

00:56 This is our water, our club, everything.

00:59 This is our land.

01:00 This is our home.

01:02 This is our club, our space, anything.

01:05 There's word of part of the property

01:07 being sold to someone else

01:09 that the family had no knowledge of.

01:12 We was getting threats.

01:13 It came down and put eviction notice

01:16 on a lot of Curtis and Melvin houses.

01:18 My uncle Melvin told me, "I need your help.

01:23 "If they're saying we have to sign our rights away

01:25 "or go to jail, I'm going to jail."

01:27 It was heartbreaking to see them chained.

01:32 I went in at 52 and come out at 61.

01:35 It took the best years of my life.

01:39 We fightin' power, we fightin' money.

01:44 ♪ What are you doing ♪

01:46 They really wanted this land.

01:48 ♪ Can't you see that you're breaking ♪

01:50 If you clear out Silver Dollar Road,

01:52 what you gonna do with us?

01:53 What you gonna do with poor people, period?

01:55 ♪ Will it heal my wounded heart ♪

01:59 The family gets shot from the rooftops.

02:02 The truth, nobody listen to 'em.

02:04 ♪ Will it heal me before ♪

02:06 This is ours.

02:07 ♪ Far ♪

02:09 Our ancestors left this here for us.

02:12 ♪ Will it heal my ♪

02:13 All of this is what you're fighting for.

02:16 ♪ Eh, ah, ah ♪

02:20 ♪ Eh, ah, ah ♪

02:23 (dramatic music)

02:25 (upbeat music)

02:28 (upbeat music)

02:31 (upbeat music)

02:33 (upbeat music)

02:36 (dramatic music)

Silver Dollar Road | Official Documentary Trailer - Prime Video

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