Nationwide — Harold Phifer, a Black author and former contract air controller who spent more than a decade in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay, is now pitching Netflix on a powerful new film. The project is based on his memoir, My Bully, My Aunt, and Her Final Gift, which chronicles how he survived a brutal and traumatic childhood in the Jim Crow South. Though he lived through Taliban suicide bombings and war-zone chaos, Phifer says nothing compared to the pain he endured at home.
Growing up Black in Columbus, Mississippi during the 1960s, Harold faced racism on the streets, bullying at school, and physical and emotional abuse inside his own house. His schizophrenic mother and violent Aunt Kathy created a world where logic didn’t exist and fear was constant. “She was the opposite of all things positive,” says Phifer of his aunt. “The death of my evil aunt forced me to see myself, even as it opened a door for my brothers and me to heal.” His story, both heartbreaking and darkly humorous, is now being positioned as a feature film to reach a global audience.
Phifer’s memoir dives deep into the twisted and unpredictable environment that shaped his early years. While many children were learning how to play and dream, Harold was learning how to survive. “Logic and Aunt Kathy never coexisted,” he recalls. “Her arbitrary rules kept me off-balance for much of my young life. Somehow, I survived the abuse and found another way.” The film adaptation he envisions would be both raw and inspiring, showing how pain can forge strength and resilience.
What makes Phifer’s story stand out is the way he blends tragedy with sharp, unexpected humor. He explains how, after surviving a Taliban suicide bombing overseas, he realized that war was actually less frightening than the household he grew up in. Writing his book became an act of therapy — a way to confront the “devilish deeds” of his aunt and to turn that darkness into something powerful. “Burying her with dignity she didn’t deserve was the ultimate closure,” he says. “It taught me more about grief, love, loss, and redemption than I ever expected.”
In pitching Netflix, Phifer says he wants to spark real conversations about generational trauma, abuse, and resilience in Black families. His vision for the film is not just to relive pain but to show triumph — how a boy who once felt invisible managed to outlast war, racism, and family cruelty. “This story isn’t about staying broken,” he says. “It’s about showing people, especially Black boys like I once was, that you can survive and become the author of your own life.”
Phifer previously published Surviving Chaos: How I Found Peace at a Beach Bar, which explored how storytelling helped him reclaim his identity. Now, with My Bully, My Aunt, and Her Final Gift, he’s ready to bring that story to the big screen. “This is more than a book,” he says. “It’s a movement.”
Both books are available on Amazon
For media inquiries or partnership opportunities, contact Brian Feinblum at 914-462-2038 or brianfeinblum@gmail.com
Source: BlackNews.com
