"All I’ve done is worked, I can’t find no time in between when I didn’t do work." buzzfeed.com/andriamoore/10…
One hundred years is a long time. Nearly two world wars, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Great Depression, the Civil Rights movement, and Jim Crow are all events that 103-year-old Madie Scott lived through.
Madie has seen and experienced so much in her lifetime, that her granddaughter, Shanika Bradshaw (TikTok: @/blackbeauty_305), decided to use TikTok as a way to preserve her grandmother's memories and to share her story.
Recently, she shared a video of Madie talking about picking cotton as a teenager, and the story has more than 2 million views.
tiktok.com/@blackbeauty_3…
Madie started "working in the fields" in her hometown, Georgia, at 12. At 16, she moved to Miami because she heard she could make more money working as a sharecropper there. "I was picking cotton all day," Madie told BuzzFeed. "If you work in the field you make the most money."
For 50 cents a day, Madie was picking cotton from 3AM-5PM.
After working for a few years as a sharecropper, then a few years as a cook on Miami beach, Madie spent the next 40 years as a nanny, raising seven kids for a wealthy family.
buzzfeed.com/andriamoore/10…
After their mother died, Madie raised Shanika and her two brothers. Shanika said she's always been very close to her grandmother, but it wasn't until quite recently that the magnitude of her grandmother's life began to catch up with her.
Shanika said it's important to both her and her grandmother that they record Madie's life as part of history. "When you think of history, they really don’t talk about the truth. We hear about Christopher Columbus, but we don’t really hear too much of Black history," Shanika said.
"So I feel it’s important for me to put this out there so people can hear it firsthand. This is what happened, these people — not just my grandmother — but other people who built up America and were never acknowledged for it."
buzzfeed.com/andriamoore/10…
For Madie, she said she wants young people especially to know the truth. "Ain't none of these young people will have to go through what I went through to get where I am now," Madie said. "Oh lord, I wish we had that..."
Read more of Madie's story here ⬇️ buzzfeed.com/andriamoore/10…
Share this Scrolly Tale with your friends.
A Scrolly Tale is a new way to read Twitter threads with a more visually immersive experience.
Discover more beautiful Scrolly Tales like this.