In the Langston family, each son married his sister… until one of them finally broke the curse.

Doubts from an Outside Voice

Then came Daniel Langston, born in 1947. Thanks to him, the cycle ended.

Gradually, the modern world crossed the hills: electricity arrived, then radio. Curious, Daniel listened to these voices from Louisville, Chicago, and sometimes even New York. He discovered other lives, other families, other possibilities. Each song, each word, increasingly broke the silence imposed by his family.

One day in 1963, a county social worker visited the farm. She asked a few simple questions: « What do you like to do? Do you have any friends? Do you want to go to public school? » These words, harmless to most children, awakened a new desire in Daniel: the desire to choose his own life. It was the first time Langston considered breaking free from the system.

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