5 Eye-opening books about slavery in Savannah (part 1 of 2) by Aberjhani


Image still from photography video of modern-day slavery by Lisa Kristine presented by TEDTalks.

Two of the most acclaimed movies of the past decade, 12 Years a Slave and Django Unchained, have focused on the degradation, inhumanity, and absurdity associated with slavery as it was once practiced in the United States. Those who are surprised by this film genre’s ability to continue to command the attention of audiences around the world might want to consider the fact that various forms of forced servitude are very real in 2015.

In addition, just as the year 2011 marked the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the American Civil War, 2015 commemorates the sesquicentennial of the war’s end. It is therefore also the official end of slavery in the United States and reason enough for movies that remind viewers why so many fought against it then and why so many, acknowledged or not, are doing so now. For all intended purposes, the precise date of the end of the Civil War was April 9, 1865, when Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant in Virginia. Some, however, maintain it did not end until Gen. Edmund K. Smith’s concession on June 2, 1865.

A Functional Metaphor

Slavery as it was known in the past serves as a functional metaphor for the human trafficking that remains to be corrected in the present. Current estimates provided by the Walk Free Foundation place the estimated number of people enslaved across the globe at 35.8 million. The foundation has drawn some heat regarding the accuracy of this figure and how they derived at it. In its own defense, the
organization’s website states the following:
“Measuring modern slavery is a very difficult undertaking due to the hidden nature of this crime. Surveys represent the most accurate method for estimating the numbers of people living in modern slavery…. Data from a total of 19 countries were obtained from random sample surveys, including the seven Gallup survey countries.”  
Criticisms of methodological precision to the side, even the fact that organization members dispute an exact number of millions of people enslaved in modern-day times is something
so incredulous that many prefer to pretend there are no real numbers at all. 

To check out the full article please click this link:
5 Eye-opening books about slavery in Savannah (part 1 of 2) - National African-American Art | Examiner.com

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

From Dream to Book: How I Wrote Dreams of the Immortal City Savannah

Image
Like many of the real-life characters in its pages, including me, the author, Dreams of the Immortal City Savannah is a survivor. It has endured several powerful hurricanes, withstood the terror of too many computer crashes to count, eluded theft, and dodged falling ceilings. The real miracle is the book not only survived these successions of turmoil but managed to steadily evolve with the addition of my artwork to the nonfiction stories. To appreciate how truly exceptional that is, please note that when I first began writing the book I did not consider myself a visual artist of any kind at all: not an amateur digital craftsman, acrylic stylist, photographer, or portraitist. I was the author of Songs from the Black Skylark zPed Music Player and co-author of Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance beginning a new literary adventure. Dreams of the Immortal City Savannah started with the experience of an actual dream in 1989. It had to do with a group of friends banding toge
Read more

The Year of James Baldwin Now in Full Classic Literary Swing (part 1) - by Aberjhani

Image
Author James Baldwin in St. Paul de Vence, France, 1976. (photo by Dmitri Kasterine) “It has always been much easier (because it has always seemed much safer) to give a name to the evil without than to locate the terror within. And yet, the terror within is far truer and far more powerful than any of our labels: the labels change, the terror is constant.” –James Baldwin, from  the essay Nothing Personal Members of New York City’s cultural arts community made a rare kind of decision earlier this year and the results of that decision continue to generate exceptional events and responses. They–– as in Columbia University School of the Arts, Harlem Stage, and New York Live Arts–– elected to observe The Year of James Baldwin from April 2014 until June 2015 in honor of the late iconoclastic African-American author’s 90th birthday August 2, 2014. Long before he died on December 1, 1987, millions came to recognize the indelible mark of Baldwin’s impact on, and the incredible depth
Read more

iTunes Adds Three Books and Podcast by Aberjhani to the iBookstore

Image
The novel Christmas When Music Almost Killed the World in the iBookstore. The iTunes Store recently added three titles, each in a different literary category, by the American author Aberjhani to its iBookstore, making it possible for the first time to download the books and read them on the iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. The titles include: the paranormal suspense novel Christmas When Music Almost Killed the World ; the travel memoir The American Poet Who Went Home Again ; and the poetry collection The Bridge of Silver Wings (newly updated in hard copy as The River of Winged Dreams ). “I’m usually too immersed in current projects to realize the significance of such a great development right away,” said the author. “So you’ll never hear me claim to be the most techno-savvy writer on the planet, which is why I’m always glad when the work that I stay so busy producing manages to make a place for itself in the world and others welcome it there as well.” In addition to hi
Read more