Long-forgotten miscarriage of justice recalled |
Written by Eric Tiansay |
Monday, 14 February 2011 02:36 PM America/New_York |
A church ceremony last month to mark a long-forgotten miscarriage of justice coincided with the release of a film version of the subject's life, The Lena Baker Story, distributed to Christian retail by Lionsgate Entertainment. The PG-13 rated docudrama recounts the story of the 44-year-old African-American who was the only woman ever sentenced to die in the electric chair in the state of Georgia, after being convicted of killing a white man from whom she was trying to escape after suffering years of abuse. Speaking of her faith in God in her last words before she died, Baker—whose early life included imprisonment for prostitution—was granted a posthumous pardon in 2005 after authorities ruled she had been wrongly denied clemency. A headstone in her memory was dedicated in early January at Mt. Vernon Church in Cuthbert, Ga., where she worshiped and was buried. Retailing for $26.98, The Lena Baker Story was written, produced and directed by Ralph Wilcox, a veteran Hollywood and Broadway actor who also made a series of documentaries about missionaries in Africa. "There has been a lot of progress in our society and race relations, but we need not forget where we have been, lest we repeat our past," Wilcox said. |