Unspeakable: The Story of Junius Wilson by Susan Burch, Hannah Joyner

Heartbreaking to say the least.  It’s amazing to find meaning into why such persons must suffer through life as so.

Junius Wilson was born in 1908, came to adulthood during Jim Crow, was deaf, uneducated (as a result of his lack of hearing) and in 1925 was accused  of rape then confined to 76 years (the rest of his life) to a mental institution.  He was also castrated.

This book is relayed mostly through oral history, record keeping in that era was systematically destroyed, just think, lobotomies were coming into fruition as well as shock therapy.  In perspective, Rosemary Kennedy from the Kennedys was confined to a mental institution and subjected to all kinds of tests.  Imagine what this Black man endured…

So for 76 years, with limited communication, Junius suffered through segregation, forced labor and held at a hospital against his knowing.

All of this and he was never charged with a crime.