12 Years a Slave

by Solomon Northup
Scott County Library paperback 230 pages
genre: memoir, history

I started listening to this on audiobook. Richard Allen's vocal work was exceptional. Toward the end of disc 1, there was a large scratch which made the rest of the disc unlistenable. I decided to just get the print book. But then I could only read a few chapters at a time. This man's experience (and eloquence) just made it so difficult to read. Slavery was so horrible . . . and for a free black man to be kidnapped and sold into slavery . . . ugh.

I've been substitute teaching in some social studies classrooms. It's hard to communicate the horrors of an era that's prior to these kids' lives by so many years. (They think the 1980s are ancient history . . . ) I remember as a kid watching Roots - our entire household stopped everything and were glued to the tv each night. It is the first "miniseries" I ever remember encountering. It was harrowing and horrible and so incredibly riveting. I felt such compassion for Kunta Kinte and wanted him to be free!

I tagged Henry Louis Gates, Jr.'s opening "What Is An African American Classic?" but don't feel like reading it now. He is the editor for this book (originally written in 1853) and it is probably worth reading, but I'm tired and ready to bring this back to the library. Likewise, I'm skipping Ira Berlin's long introduction.

Northup's story can stand on it's own. His experiences are powerfully told. I don't think I want to see the movie . . . cruelty and the evils of slavery are real enough that depictions of them are just depressing.

I liked that Bass (the man who eventually helped him achieve his freedom again) was Canadian. It made me think of my dad saying "everything in Canada is better." I liked best of all that Solomon Northup's wife and children were still alive and he got to go home to them.