A Letter to Claudette Colvin
2017


From The Plantation To The Battle Field, History Can’t Be Erased.
Pata Seca (1828), a man whose back bore the whip marks of his enslavers , whose eyes held the haunted memory of being forced to breed over 200 slave children in order to sustain his master’s plantation. Men broken but unbowed, transformed from field hands into soldiers from the civil war to Vietnam. This documentary weaves together authentic narratives from the 1800s, accompanied by original images and footage, highlighting the significant influence that Black men in uniform had in Hollywood and addressing ongoing relevant issues to date.
Directed by Emunah La-Paz



Emunah La-Paz
Narrator and interviewer

Douglas L. Williams
Playing selff, Vietnam Veteran

Sue Chang Wiliams
Playing self, caregiver and wife of Vietnam Veteran

Lavender Lashay
Photographer
2017
1957
1959

1984

2017

1962

2024

2025
2025

2025
2025
2025