In April 2011, I watched a C-SPAN show interviewing the author of a book about Henrietta Lacks, her name: Rebecca Skloot.
Henrietta’s story starts August 1, 1920, and her birth and life ended sometime in the early fifties, 1951. This story has just come into the light of day and while I cried again because it’s sad, and unacceptable by some, it reminds us of how life is treated when you have no or less power than the “average Joe” which is code for being white.
After having several children and years and years of reports by “the Media”, publicity, and whatnot, Henrietta’s family seems to be the only ones who didn’t benefit from the story of this woman whose cells were used to create a cell line for medical research but got nothing in return. I don’t know when everyone else heard of this story, but Oprah and some associates decided to make a movie…hopefully, some or ALL of the revenue will be given to the family. It is a story that makes you gasp, gets you upset, or mad, it will make you cry and wonder how the science community got away with not paying Henrietta Lacks and or her family for her contribution. If I understood the interviewer, Henrietta’s family has recently gotten more PR about their Mother’s story, but it’s unclear if anyone paid money for all the stories, books, and or TV programs about her. It is a story that appears to be on the surface, one of unintentional theft, that became just that, and if you are willing to dig deeper you realize it is theft and a secret kept quiet for years.
It becomes apparent her cells are used by an immoral scientist who did not tell her or her family even after it was evident that the cells were rare, viable, unusual, and priceless…worth an astronomical amount in my opinion. The fact that they were used and what effects they all would eventually have on science today, in 2011, was not evident then, but those scientists probably had some idea. I understand that back then technology may not have been as advanced, but it did advance and still is and if the reports are correct, the science community gave Henrietta nothing to her or her family for the wonderful things those rare cells she had that changed the lives of so many. It happened in a time when minorities were treated very poorly and again, even if the reports state that standard procedure was this that, and or the other, the ’70s gave way to new ways to handle science technologies; it’s time to pay Henrietta Lacks and her family back.
Lyn LeJeune is the author of several novels. Her stories have been published in literary journals such as Big Muddy: A Journal of The Mississippi River Valley (East Missouri University), The Bishop s House Review (Duke), The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature, Nantahala, Milestone, Identity Theory, Our Stories, Demolition Magazine and Stone Table Review, and The Best of Our Stories. She was recipient of the Paris Writers Institute Scholarship for study in Paris, France. Lyn studied writing at Skidmore, where she worked with Marilynne Robinson and Mary Gordon, Duke, and the Breadloaf Writers Conference. Lyn routinely holds seminars on writing and development of oral history projects and has a gift for one-on-one conversation, communicating with large audiences, and working with smaller audiences in venues such as book clubs and seminars.
One of Lyn s first readers for Elijah Rising was Howard Zinn, who commented: I read it in two sittings, became involved in the story. You write very well! Best wishes, Howard ZinnLyn is 100% Cajun and makes the best gumbo in South Louisiana.
When I was eight years old, my mom scared me into telling a lie that would change the course of our family’s life.
One day when I was at home watching my dad work, I came out of the bathroom and my mom asked me if my dad had ever touched me. Confused, I said no. But then she asked me again. And I said no. She kept asking, and I kept saying no, until she became angry and threatened to beat me with a belt until I said yes. I was too young to know that my mom was using drugs at the time, and I was scared. So I said yes.
My dad has been in prison for decades for a crime he didn’t commit, all because I was forced into telling a lie about him when I was eight years old. Help my dad get pardoned by signing my petition.
I remember sometimes during dinner my mom would make excuses to leave so she could find drugs. When my dad would try to stop her, they would fight, and I would cry. Now I know it’s because he wanted her to stay home with the family that he was working so hard to keep together.
After my dad was sent to prison, my siblings and I went to live with my grandmother. I told her the whole truth: that my dad had never touched me, and that my mom taught me all the words to say that would get him in trouble. My mom even admits now that this happened during one of her drug binges, and she doesn’t know why she did it.
I’ve been fighting to set my dad free with this evidence since I was 15 years old — but all of my appeals have been denied. I was recently interviewed about my story by national news, and I believe that this wave of public support can help my case. That’s why I started this petition to pressure Governor Cuomo into pardoning him. Will you help me by signing?
Be a Seed for Change 
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