Unspeakable: The Life of Junius Wilson

FAIN: TD-228514-15

Interfaze Educational Productions, Inc. (Berkeley, CA 94710-3104)
Rick Tejada-Flores (Project Director: August 2014 to March 2021)

Development of a 60-minute documentary on Junius Wilson (1908-2001), a deaf African American man from North Carolina who was convicted of attempted rape and spent most of his life institutionalized.

Junius Wilson, a deaf African man, was ruled insane and sent to a segregated mental institution where he would be castrated and remain for 67 years. He was unable to communicate because he spoke a form of sign language only taught to black people. Wilson's powerful story offers a lens to explore what happens when racial discrimination, marginalization of people with disabilities and the primitive conditions of mental health treatment in the early 20th century interact and reinforce each other. A holistic understanding of the forces that shaped Junius Wilson's life offers a model to understand the issues that our society faces today.