Empathy for The Forgotten

Empathy.

         Empathy and heartbreak is what comes to my mind when I think about  "12 Years A Slave”by Soloman Northup. This autobiography on slavery really makes you grateful for the life you have and the fact that you are born free. It makes you reflect, not only on your own petty complaints, but also on how much undeniable, unfathomable cruelty man can bestow, if he chooses to. Here is a quote that most impacted me, "He looked upon a colored man, not as a human being-but as a 'chattel personal'-no better, -than his mule or dog." (Northup, 120.) Can you imagine being human and being treated less than an animal every day? It's horrific. Nobody should be made to feel inferior, especially on something so meaningless, like pigment. It's like calling a cloud better than the tree because its higher, so you decide to chop down all the trees so the clouds are seen more...what? That didn't make any sense...but in a way, it does; All nature is equally beautiful; and All people are equally valuable.


         When I was in 8th grade, we read the book "Night," by Eli Weasel for Mrs. Pate's English class. Yes. The book was very, sad. But when you hear statistics or describe how many people were suffering and dying...it did not make an impact on me as much.Until I saw the video clip of Eli Weisel's interview with Oprah revisiting the Holocaust site. And my heart broke. Sometimes when something sounds so cruel, its unimaginable...until, you see the visual. I'm sure many of you have seen the movie “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas,” or other holocaust movies/ video clips about the horrific mass murder of the Jews. The way I felt when I saw those the movie version of "12 Years A Slave" reminded me of the way I felt then.

Here are some powerful trailers. Sorry guys I know these are really sad so feel free to skip through. But it is necessary to feel other peoples pain and place yourself in their shoes to grow as people. Again, I'm so sorry these are sad but it is based on real life.

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Empathy.
       This is how I felt watching the movie "12 Years A Slave" with my mom and older sister. I wanted to cover my eyes with my fingers, and my stomach did flips, my eyes stung from tears as they whipped the innocent girl. It was when reality hit. I felt like I was in the movie. That I was one of the field hands working every day all day for nothing. And it simply broke my heart. This is why empathy is the first thing that comes to my mind when I think about this book and amazing movie. If All humans had compassion, and most of all love for one another, there would be no war, and there would be no pain, and there would be no human suffering, or there would be no discrimination; and one hundred years of slavery or the genocide of 6 million people, would go unheard of. https://www.goodreads.com/