Mama Flora's Family

Did You Know?

• Cicely Tyson's role as Flora Palmer marked her second time performing in an adaptation of Alex Haley's work.
• Georgia Allen played Nana in the miniseries.
• Critical reception for the miniseries was mixed, with some reviewers comparing it unfavorably to Haley's Roots miniseries.

Synopsis

At a dance, young Flora meets wealthy Lincoln Flemming, who asks her to care for his elderly grandmother Nana. Flora agrees and later becomes sexually involved with Lincoln, believing they are romantically involved. After he shuns and shames her in front of his rich contemporaries, Flora feels used and refuses to sleep with him, prompting her eviction. Discovering she is pregnant with Lincoln's child, Flora accepts a bribe from his wealthy family to leave Mississippi to avoid scandal.

She gives birth to a boy named Luke but is forced to give the baby to the Flemmings to raise. Traveling by train toward Memphis, a fellow passenger directs her instead to the small town of Stockton, advising that a young woman should not go into the city alone. There, she gains employment and shelter through Reverend Jackson. In Stockton, Flora meets and falls in love with Booker Palmer.

The two marry, have a son named Willie, and Booker becomes a sharecropper. Financial difficulties force Booker to steal cotton from other farmers; during one nightly run, he is shot and killed. Flora later buries Booker after remaining with his body all night. Shortly thereafter, Flora learns her sister Jossie is ill and dying, travels to her, and returns with her niece Ruthana to raise as her own daughter.

Throughout the 1930s, Flora raises Willie and Ruthana in Stockton. When Willie gets into a fight with some White boys, he is forced to escape to Chicago, where Ruthana's father lives. There, Willie stays with Georgy, who shows him the area and finds him a job. One night, Willie gambles and smokes marijuana, causing him to lose his home.

He moves into a basement with his friend Josh, who is later arrested for dealing drugs. Throughout this time, Willie writes to his mother, cousin, and girlfriend Ernestine, lying that everything is fine. At the outbreak of World War II, Willie joins the army; upon his return, he proposes to Ernestine, they marry, move to Chicago, and have three children. Around the same time, Ruthana attends Fisk University.

While she is away, Flora returns to Mississippi to find her son Luke. She returns to the Flemming Mansion and obtains his address from the mansion's cook. Flora writes to Luke, who comes to find her. She discovers Luke has graduated from law school and is joining the army.

Luke and Flora remain in touch; upon his return from the war, he opens a practice in Harlem. After Ruthana graduates, she takes a job as a social worker in Harlem, only to discover that Ernestine is very sick. Doctors are unable to discover what is wrong, and Ernestine later has a heart attack in her sleep. Ruthana helps her cousin Willy raise the children.