Nominee 2023

Unreformed: the Story of the Alabama Industrial School for Negro Children

School of Humans

Unreformed tells the story of how the state-run Alabama Industrial School for Negro Children derailed the lives of thousands of Black children in the mid-20th century and what happened when five girls escaped in 1968. Listeners hear of physical and sexual abuse, unlivable facilities and grueling labor in the fields surrounding the school, which led many former students to call it a “slave camp.”