“The Help” is Close to Home
My maternal grandmother worked for a family in Mountain Brook, AL. Without knowing it, I had become very close friends with one of the daughters and grandson of the family. I was talking to the grandson one day while I was at my Grandmother’s house. She asked if he was related to the family. It never occurred to me that there was a connection.
Grandmother ALWAYS had good things to say about the family. They tried to get her to come to the home as a guest before she died. She sent the family a note telling them how pleased she was that I had become friends with them. The family seemed hurt that she didn’t come to their home for lunch. I explained that the fact that I was a guest in their home meant the world to her. I also shared that my grandparents never needed apologies. When they went to my graduation at UVA, a school built by slaves and not open to them or to my parents, they were even more excited than I was!
My grandmother left working with the family to become a nursing assistant when we were very young.
I became friends with the family through cross-cultural programs in Birmingham sponsored by The National Conference for Christians and Jews (NCCJ).
Several aspects of the movie are in question. The Association of Black Women Historians suggest several resources for an accurate account of the time period and the life of domestic workers. http://abwh.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2%3Aopen-statement-the-help&catid=1%3Alatest-news