Social Justice and Fairness: Author, Journalist on Journey to Tell Buried Truths

Antonia Hylton (center) interviewing a survivor recently on the campus grounds of Crownsville Hospital.

“You are your sibling’s keeper.”

Antonia Hylton says that growing up outside of Boston in Lincoln, Mass. (a half mile from where Paul Revere was arrested) as one of only a few Black families in a white town, her law school professor parents instilled in her and her six siblings a sense of responsibility, accountability and social justice.

Now an award-winning journalist, author, documentarian, podcaster and advocate, Hylton says, “I didn’t want to be a lawyer, but I was interested in justice and fairness. I feel I am responsible to those who come after me.”

Read more in Take The Lead on the Power To Change Mental Health attitudes

Ten years in the making, Hylton’s new book, Madness: Race and Justice in a Jim Crow Asylum, tracks the history of Crownsville Hospital, one of the last racially segregated asylums in the country that operated from 1911 to 2004.

“@Ahylton26 ‘s new book, MADNESS, tracks the history of Crownsville Hospital, one of the last racially segregated asylums in the country. #womeninjournalism”

A Peabody and two-time Emmy award-winning correspondent for NBC News and MSNBC, and cohost of the podcasts, Southlake and Grapevine, Hylton discerned this was a story that needed to be told.

Interviewing the families of those who were treated there or worked there, Hylton tells personal stories and explores the narratives of those who worked and were hospitalized at the institution that was first named Hospital for The Negro Insane. With her parents’ encouragement, Hylton says her and her sisters who are journalists, nonprofit leaders and Hollywood writers “keep telling these stories and living our values.”

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“With her parents’ encouragement, @Ahylton26 says her and her sisters who are journalists, nonprofit #leaders and Hollywood writers “keep telling these stories and living our values.””

Her parents were law professors at Boston University, Hylton explains. Her mother is Afro-Cuban and her father is African American. “With the combination of their world views and their lives, everything came full circle at the dinner table with all nine of us as a unit.”

Graduating magna cum laude from Harvard University in 2015, Hylton says, “I stumbled into a class in psychiatry called, ‘Madness in Medicine,’ and learned people of color were absent from the history of psychiatry, so I became a bit obsessed.” Then Hylton began her research on Crownsville and it became her senior thesis.

After graduation, from 2016 to 2020, Hylton was a Correspondent and Producer for Vice Media and HBO’s nightly news and documentary show, Vice News Tonight. Since 2019, she has also served as an annual judge for the American Mosaic Journalism Prize.

Read more from Gloria Feldt on destigmatizing mental health concerns

But even as she worked daily in media, she was not finished with the story of the people who built Crownsville and were patients there. “I built relationships with so many people in Crownsville, so I thought maybe it’s a documentary. I kept going to talk to people and visiting campus. They are permanent parts of my life. I was just submerged in this story.” She adds, “By 2020, it became clear this was going to be a book.”

Hylton says she wanted to answer her “aching need” to tell these stories and to give “the perspective of Black patients.” She adds, “I can’t imagine another way to tell this story. It is so dark in parts, and I was so affected by it. The reader is likely to have a similar experience.”

“To mitigate the disparity and pain of this history, I chose storytelling through the eyes of the people who lived through this experience. I didn’t want a stuffy history book; I wanted you to understand the human experience. I think it is only digestible when you see the humanity in the people who experienced it.”

““To mitigate the disparity and pain of this history, I chose storytelling through the eyes of the people who lived through this experience.” —@Ahylton26 on her new book MADNESS.”

The inequity of care in mental health concerns is historic and ongoing, according to a 2022 study from researchers in the United Kingdom. Of the 36 studies included, researchers found, “Black populations were less likely to access mental health support via traditional pathways due to stigma and mistrust of mental health services. Black Africans especially, sought alternative help from community leaders, which increased the likelihood of accessing treatment at the point of crisis or breakdown, which in turn increased risk of being detained under the Mental Health Act and via the criminal justice system.”

In her book, Hylton examines the criminalization and access inequities for Black people suffering with mental health issues. Hylton also offers transparency and includes the story of her father’s cousin, Maynard, who was killed by police, and who had mental health struggles that her family kept quiet.

“The most straightforward and important goal is that this book allows families of all backgrounds to have conversations, so they may embark on a healing journey.” Hylton says, “If this helps other people in families, that will feel like a big win.”

“In her book MADNESS, @Ahylton26 examines the criminalization and access #inequities for Black people suffering with #mentalhealth issues. ”

“We need to destigmatize these conversations, not just those for Black patients.”

She adds, “What lessons can we learn from the past? We need to find space for patients to help them heal on a personal level.” And then the systems need to change on the local, state and federal levels, she says.

“I hope this lands on college campuses as I hope this can complicate what we know and teach,” she says.

Hylton has had a champion for her work not just with her parents, but also with her mother’s sister, Soledad O’Brien, the award-winning journalist and documentarian. “She has been helpful every day of my life. In the early part of my career, I would ask for feedback and she would help me grow.” O’Brien also served as an immense inspiration to her, Hylton says.

“The #inequity of care in #mentalhealth concerns is historic and ongoing, according to a 2022 study from researchers in the United Kingdom.”

Listen to Soledad O’Brien in conversation with Gloria Feldt on the Take The Lead podcast

Her narrative approach in her book comes naturally to her as an award-winning storyteller. Hylton won an Emmy for an HBO episode on the family separation crisis, two Gracie Awards, a NAMIC Vision Award, and two Front Page Awards for special reporting and breaking news.

“I feel two ways about awards,” Hylton says. “Those are some of the highest moments of my cateer. That recognition means everything, as cutting through the noise is harder than ever. At the same time, no journalist gets into this industry for awards. You have to have passion that overrides the difficulties.”

““@Soledadobrien has been helpful every day of my life. In the early part of my career, I would ask for feedback and she would help me grow.” —@Ahylton26. #womeninjournalism #womenleaders”

She adds, “And this work is hard.”

Yes, Hylton says, her parents are immensely proud, but not surprised. She is paying it forward to all those who come after her.

Leadership Takeaway of the Week:

“I feel I am responsible to those who come after me.”

Antonia Hylton, journalist, author of Madness: Race and Justice in a Jim Crow Asylum.