I’m really excited to meet Sonny Lacks when he visits campus on October 26. I’m curious about what he thinks of the whole focus on his mother. He must have been only four years old when she died.
If you’ve read the book you know that Henrietta’s daughter, Deborah, has a significant part in the story. She was only two years old and to some extent, when the story was told to her, she became its keeper.
Deborah is the one who wanted to know more about her mother, and longed to understand what immortality meant.
When Rebecca Skloot first contacted Dr. Roland Pattillo, a professor at Morehouse and one of George Gey’s only African American students, Dr. Pattillo warned her that she would have to get past Deborah.
But Deborah died before the book went to print. Sonny is now the keeper of the story.
Last year Morgan State University posthumously awarded Henrietta Lacks an honorary degree. Sonny accepted it on behalf of the family. It is my understanding that he wants to help get the word out about his mother’s contribution. He’s waiting for me to send him questions that students want answered.
So, what do you want to know?
I want to know what he remembers about his mother.
I want to know how it felt to have Hopkins follow his family for so many years without knowing why. What was his father’s reaction?
I want to know how it feels to have a mother whose contribution was not known for many, many years, only to have a bestselling book about it written and receive so much praise.
I want to know how it feels to have a white woman tell a story about Henrietta.
I want to know what it’s like to have the details of his family’s life on the pages of a book.
I want to know if he thinks health care for African Americans is better now than it was in 1951.
I want to know what he wants us to know and remember about the legacy of his mother.
But more than anything else, I want to know, reader, what questions you have for Sonny.
---Dr. Lisa Kiely, Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Studies.
