"It's not only the circumstances of our lives but how we respond to them that defines us." - David Greene
Preface to the Tenth Anniversary Edition of Unmentionables
My purpose in writing Unmentionables, which was first published in March, 2010, was to tell a story that had never before been told about people whose lives had been ignored by historians. I wanted to fill in a piece of history that had been omitted—an account of enslaved men whose love for each other was considered by society to be unmentionable.
I spent twenty years researching this book. I traveled to Madison County, Tennessee, and visited the sites where this story is set. I read published first-hand narratives of enslaved people and books about the lives of enslaved people published by historians. The experiences and situations described in this story are primarily based on precedents I found in these recorded histories. I was unable to find, however, any recorded precedent that described the feelings and experiences of gay enslaved men, which is why I wanted to tell this story.
I’ve endeavored to ensure that the language used in the novel accurately reproduces American speech as it existed in the mid-nineteenth century, including words, idioms, and expressions. I want to caution readers that some of the dialogue includes hate speech, including the n-word, a word that was commonly used by white people of the time, and also used, without the same malice and for their own purposes, by enslaved people themselves. It is a painful word. And many of the experiences depicted in the novel are painful to read.
This story depicts some of the horrors enslaved people experienced—near total regulation of personal freedom, children sold away from their families, restrictions in movement by roaming slave patrollers, grueling manual labor, and domination of the black body through rape, whipping and confinement.
Nonetheless, this is a story of resistance and resilience. Despite everything, many enslaved people through their own courage, fortitude and actions were able to experience ordinary happiness, humor, love and joy, which I consider an extraordinary spiritual achievement.
David Greene
July, 2020
for the Tenth Anniversary Edition of Unmentionables
I spent twenty years researching this book. I traveled to Madison County, Tennessee, and visited the sites where this story is set. I read published first-hand narratives of enslaved people and books about the lives of enslaved people published by historians. The experiences and situations described in this story are primarily based on precedents I found in these recorded histories. I was unable to find, however, any recorded precedent that described the feelings and experiences of gay enslaved men, which is why I wanted to tell this story.
I’ve endeavored to ensure that the language used in the novel accurately reproduces American speech as it existed in the mid-nineteenth century, including words, idioms, and expressions. I want to caution readers that some of the dialogue includes hate speech, including the n-word, a word that was commonly used by white people of the time, and also used, without the same malice and for their own purposes, by enslaved people themselves. It is a painful word. And many of the experiences depicted in the novel are painful to read.
This story depicts some of the horrors enslaved people experienced—near total regulation of personal freedom, children sold away from their families, restrictions in movement by roaming slave patrollers, grueling manual labor, and domination of the black body through rape, whipping and confinement.
Nonetheless, this is a story of resistance and resilience. Despite everything, many enslaved people through their own courage, fortitude and actions were able to experience ordinary happiness, humor, love and joy, which I consider an extraordinary spiritual achievement.
David Greene
July, 2020
for the Tenth Anniversary Edition of Unmentionables