For years, African-American contributions to the field of science have been smudged out by historians.
This year, Oprah Winfrey has teamed up with HBO to tell the story of Mrs. Henrietta Lacks, the black woman whose cells were stolen by doctors and used for medical research.
Full story below…
In 1951, Lacks was told that she had a malignant epidermoid carcinoma of the cervix.
Little did she know that samples from her cervix were stolen from her as she was being treated and given to a cancer researcher named George Otto Gey.
He then used these samples for medical research and found that Lacks’ cells (unlike others) were immortal.
Since her death, scientists have grown over 20 tons of her cells while others, keen to take full advantage of their unique nature, have patented “products” which benefit from their undying power.
Moved by the story and the plight of her family once they’d learned what had been done to her, Winfrey teamed up with HBO to tell the story via ‘The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.’
George C. Wolfe (Lackawanna Blues, Angels in America) wrote the screenplay and will direct the telepic, which begins production this summer.
Additionally, Lacks’ sons, David Lacks, Jr. and Zakariyya Rahman, and granddaughter Jeri Lacks will serve as consultants.
Winfrey will portray Lacks.
A premiere date for the movie is yet to be announced but will arrive after many continue to assess the ethics of the father of modern Gynaecology James Marion Sims.
Why?
The human experimentation he would carry out on African-American women and children.