Mann V. Ford to air July 18 on HBO

As part of its summer documentary series, HBO is set to air Mann V. Ford on Monday night, July 18, at 8:00 p.m. 



Attorney Vicki L. Gilliam of Clinton



Featuring Clinton lawyer Vicki L. Gilliam, plaintiffs attorney, the movie follows the saga of the Ramapough Mountain Indians seeking justice for the environmental disaster they suffered from toxic paint sludge left by a Ford Motor Company manufacturing plant.  Posting in The New York Observer, one attendee of the production's New York premiere last week had this to say:

Isis: I was at a premiere for this documentary -- heartbreaking and horrific. First heard about this story through The Record newspaper's Toxic Legacy series, which is now continuing under the name Toxic Landscape and covers many of the sites, including Ringwood, in NJ. So glad the Ramapough's story is getting out there.

Here's the review summary from the July 16 New York Times.

A community's mission to clean up the toxic byproduct of the American Dream, and to seek justice for themselves and their families. Located just 19 miles from New York City is one of the worst environmental disasters in the United States. This toxic site is the former home of the Ford Motor Plant in Mahwah, NJ, which was the country's largest car factory when it opened in 1955. Thousands of cars were produced there over several decades, along with a mountain of toxic paint sludge, which was dumped on the land of the Ramapough Mountain Indians. Here, we meet Wayne Mann, the leader of a small Native American community, who stands up to Ford and whose efforts resulted in the first Superfund site ever re-listed by the EPA. ~ Baseline StudioSystems

Mann V. Ford marks the second documentary of the HBO summer series to portray a Mississippian in the struggle for civil justice -- Hot Coffee, aired in June, recounts the struggles of former Supreme Court Justice Oliver Diaz against the U. S. Chamber of Commerce and the United States Justice Department.