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| The Slave Players |
"What began as one woman's unique perspective and twist on race relations in the South has turned into a hostile campaign against a very skilled writer who put pen to paper to explore her fears," says David Adams, CEO of Burn House Publishing. "While many recognize The Slave Players as art and a departure into different themes of our divisive political climate, certain groups committed to racial discrimination and unrest are trying to threaten her into silence."
The Slave Players, written by Megan Allen, fictionalizes a present-day Alabama that is undone by a racial uprising brought on by a horrific tragedy. The nightmare act sparks a new Civil War, and the revolt of a still-subjugated group places the white citizens of Alabama in the same bondage that countless black slaves endured during our country's history of slavery.
After the book's release, hate mail and social media content - including YouTube videos calling for violence - have targeted both Allen and Burn House Publishing. While much of the inflammatory correspondence has come from alt-right circles, the Ku Klux Klan is taking a more aggressive approach to the hateful rhetoric.
In a widely circulated letter that has appeared on dozens of college campuses, the KKK wrote, "It is loud-mouth literature that poisons society against us. And we must all stand together against it. A novel is out titled The Slave Players, which was clearly written just to agitate the college educated, who always think they have a better answer for the woes of the world." The Klan's Imperial Grand Wizard, Chris Barker, took things furthers, releasing a grotesque and vulgar response on YouTube attacking African Americans and Allen, literally tearing the novel to pieces in front of the camera.
"I wrote The Slave Players as an alternate viewpoint to some of the underlying discriminatory tones in our society that have recently surfaced in present-day events like our last Presidential Election," says Megan Allen, author of The Slave Players. "And through the heartbreak of tragedies like Ferguson, we've seen the birth of landmark groups that are finding their voice, like Black Lives Matter. It's movements like these that inspire progress. The #MeToo movement is very similar, as women finally broke through to find their power – their authentic voice. This is why dialogue is so critical for our society to first understand and then to heal."
As the anger over the book spreads, so does the support. The Slave Players is quickly becoming a book club favorite, and is sparking much conversation – and controversy – on social media. The book follows race relations in the South to a terrifyingly possible conclusion, and holds an unflattering mirror to each and every American. We can't continue to look at our advancements and ourselves as a nation through rose-colored glasses, and author Megan Allen is more than happy to tear them off to open our eyes to what is really happening in our backyard.
About The Slave Players:
(via The Slave Players site)
(via The Slave Players site)
"It’s modern day in the Deep South. Racial unrest is rampant, and outbreaks of violence reach epidemic proportions. When a church bus makes a wrong turn in the Alabama countryside, a dozen teenage girls become victims of a heinous crime. The resulting outcry is explosive, as a new civil war erupts, but this time it will be whites who are cast into bondage. And Slave Playing becomes a cruel game of tyranny and survival.
The story winds and unwinds as it coils around the reader like a great serpent. At times it will be a love story, with warmth, humor and human kindness. But mostly it will slap hard at the Wall-Builders, and those who would be king at the expense of others, who would be prey. And a man will arrive on this tiny speck of land in the heart of Alabama. He will bring with him a whip, and a lesson of what tyranny and oppression can do to the human spirit."
About the author:
Megan Allen is a 27 year old California native who received her Bachelor's from UC Berkeley and her Master's in creative writing from the University of Edinburgh.
After graduating she spent long periods of time in the Deep South visiting her father. And it was there she found inspiration for her debut novel, The Slave Players.
She writes, "I grew up naively, and had no idea that racism still prevailed with such intensity in my own country. Then I met Alabama."
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| Author Megan Allen |
After graduating she spent long periods of time in the Deep South visiting her father. And it was there she found inspiration for her debut novel, The Slave Players.
She writes, "I grew up naively, and had no idea that racism still prevailed with such intensity in my own country. Then I met Alabama."
SOURCE: Burn House Publishing
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