James McBride - The Colour of Water

Ruth McBride Jordan (born Rachel Shilsky) fell in love with a black man in the deep American South at a time when such couplings were frowned upon and were unlawful.  Not only was Rachel white, but she was also of Jewish descent and of a higher economic status than the man she married.  In so doing Rachel was a trendsetter in a world that profiled people by the colour of their skin, socio economic status, religion, sexual orientation,  gender & many other "differences" unintended by our maker.  In being bold enough to do the unpardonable,  she nonetheless paid a very high price for love. The Colour of Water is James McBride 's lovely tribute to his mother Ruth McBride Jordan - a formidable woman.

There has been [extended] news coverage on the story of an African man coupling with a lady of Asian origin (both Kenyan) & many bawdy jokes made of their union.  In a [conservative] country that celebrates & honours marriages, this union has nonetheless been the subject of amusement and amazement including profiling the African man in the most unsavoury manner.  The story demonstrates what is inherently wrong in our society, 51 years after independence notwithstanding.  That the fascination was picked by the BBC as Newsworthy is even more outstanding.

http://m.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-28568701

(a) Mr Khamala is singled out as a "Bukusu". Bukusus are not one of the 42 Kenyan tribes but are encompassed under the broader Luhya Nation.  Recently a former Vice President came under flack for telling a rookie journalist that his second name "betrayed him".  People from the journalist's tribe took, by the droves, to the social and mainstream media to hit at what they perceived was an insult.  In referring to the man as a Bukusu (instead of simply a Kenyan of African descent), my country folk have even sank further to profiling people by their sub tribes & clans.  This profiling is however selective because mainstream media would never refer to other peoples by their sub tribes & clans. Many people have resorted to joking & promulgating theories on the "sexual prowess" of the black man. For me, I have always wondered why there must be a tag to my existence requiring me to define myself [& my children] by tribe, sub tribe & even clan. In so doing subtle inferences are made to my person and my character.

(b) For as long as I can remember many Kenyans of African origin have transcended cultures & races, often to the chagrin of their own families or communities. Jomo Kenyatta (Peter Magana's mother), Charles Njonjo, Phillip Moi, Peter Habenga Okondo, James Butt (Julie Gichuru 's father), Barack Hussein Obama snr (two American lasses), Elijah Mwangale, Masinde Muliro (A South African), Jeff Koinange, Oloo Aringo, Mukhisa Kituyi, Hannington Awori, Nelson Awori, Noah Wekesa, Bethwell Kiplagat, Oludhe MacGoye, Gina Din Kariuki, Cheryl Kibaki and many more... From the number of children of mixed race, this barrier was transcended even before independence. Many of the Kenyan elite met their spouses during their studies abroad while others met in the country. A friend maintains that "The fact remains that this is NOT THE FIRST such marriage. There is a place in Meru - Tigania that has several generations of intermarriage between the locals and their Indian emigrants - over 100 years. Other parts of Meru have the same and include Shahs, Patels & Islamic families!"  Indeed the BBC article indicates that although no firm census exists on Asian African marriages, estimates put this at 100,000 such unions in Kenya.

(c) Like Rachel, countless people have married happily across the economic divide. Men marry their house girls, masseuses, their neighbours' house girls, commercial sex workers etc whereas women marry their house boys, workers, watchmen etc. Examples - in my country - abound of folks who have married upstairs or downstairs as this phenomenon is as old as civilisation. Economic status has never been a barrier for love [and infatuation thereof] truly is blind. Sometimes marriage is about improving one's status so it follows that one party to the contract might use it to climb the social ladder to improve his/her lot and that of her descendants.

(d) Kenyans have also married across the religious divide. Catholics, Protestants, Hindus, Sikhs, Muslims etc. In some cases, one person has to convert but in most cases each person in the union pursues her selected religion & denomination as desired.   I have never really understood the Muslim vs Christian problem in the Middle East, Central African Republic, Iraq and other countries, counting as I do families & friends who are in harmonious inter religious relationships.

James McBride writes a beautiful Obamesque tribute to his mother. A woman who - against all odds -  raises 12 successful children against much prejudice from her original community.  Ruth was ostracised by her own family  for bringing dishonour to the family name.  Her family performed "Shiva" [a Jewish ritual for the dead] who counted her among their dead. Her family strongly believed that "choices have consequences" & Rachel could not have her cake and eat it.  She neither belonged to her own people nor those of her two black husbands who both died on her prematurely. The children of her unions were neither "black nor white". She had to fight [aggressively] for the children to be awarded scholarships & financial aid available for Jewish children without which she would never have been able to give them the education they deserved. Fortunately for her, the state of being a Jew is matrilineal and passes on from mother to child.  Not even a bigoted society, could deny her that.  Some of her children initially suffered a severe identity crisis as they were always outsiders. To their persistent question: "Is God Black or White?", She wisely answered "God is the colour of water".

For Kenya, 51 years after independence...It is a shame that we - as a people - make bawdy jokes about a love between two lawfully abiding citizens who are above the age of consent.  We, who indicate that #WeAreOne, are quick to profile people by their tribes, races, sub tribes, economic status, sexual orientation & religion. We who call ourselves a Christian Nation exhibit behaviours worse than the Pharisees and teachers of the law.

C. W. Gortner - The Confessions of Catherine de Medici

What did Catherine de Medici have to confess? The book title is qualified with a caption which is the only one I have had courage to highlight:

None of us is innocent

We all have sins to confess.

Today is mother's day 2014 and  it was an opportune moment for me to complete the fictionalized historical version of the life of Caterina Maria Romelo di Lorenzo de' Medici (Queen of France) from her perspective. Married at fourteen to Henry II of France (second in line to the French Throne after his brother) who did not love her, who disrespected her and who did not consummate the marriage for the longest time possible, she nonetheless became the mother of eleven children eight who survived into adulthood. She boasts of her children, Three French Kings (Francois II, Charles IX & Henri III), One French Queen (Marguerite), One Spanish Queen (Elisabeth).  She - of "humble" background - became known as the most powerful woman in sixteenth century Europe given that she held the key to the continuation of the House of Valois during a very daunting time.  She was thrust into the role of Queen Mother and Regent for her son when her husband dies. It was her duty as her Husband King of France died young, before their sons were of age. 

Life is tragic for Caterina de' Medici  and fate is not kind to her.  Her sole duty on earth was to sire [male] children who would perpetuate the Valois dynasty.  This took place at a time when girls were expected to be brood mares and to assure the continuation of power through appropriate matches.  Infant & maternal mortality was high and life was generally precarious through wars & treachery.  Life was not easy for Caterina as the matriarch to the House of Valois and history has judged her harshly in the same way it judges most women for the mistakes that they make.   Widowed at forty, Caterina de' Medici, rises (and exceeds expectations) to save her dynasty and her adopted country France.  As I read through the book, I thought about the words of Celine Dion's song that:- There is no other love like a mother's love for her child... a love so complete.  A mother (most mother's) will do anything to safeguard their children.  It is said that without Caterina, her three son's might not have ascended to power to the French Throne as Kings since there was so much against them.  In one of her letters she is quoted to have indicated that she held onto power (as Queen Mother) to preserve France for her sons.  To add insult to injury, each of her reigning sons died - one after the other - without heirs.

I must say, that the book taught me about a period  of European History of which I was not very conversant. The constant battles between the Huguenots and the Catholics were eye opening and  remind me of the current battle between Christians and Muslims. Is it really about God or is it about Power? It seems ironical that both the Huguenots and the Catholics waged war in the name of God yet, as Caterina says towards the end that she had stopped paying too much attention about her religion's promise of everlasting life as 'I have witnessed too much treachery in the name of religion'.  I have always wondered why men {it is mostly men} think they must wage war in the name of God instead of letting God defend himself. 

Margot (Marguerite)'s relationship with her mother Caterina de' Medici is the most interesting. Actually Caterina's relationships with all her children can be books of their own.  Like most mothers, she is not a bad mother but she does what she thinks is best for them to secure their futures. That she arranged a dynastic marriage for Margot to the Protestant Henri de Bourbon, King of Navarre brought undying enmity between them because Margot loved another, Henri, the Duc de Guise. Margot became Queen of France when her husband King Henri III of Navarre became heir to the French throne. So although she could not inherit the crown, she nonetheless became Queen of France because none of her brothers had children and her husband was next in line to the throne.  Margot was least interested in a loveless marriage to the King of Navarre...However she was ahead of her time as in those days marriages were not arranged for love but for duty.  What interested me was the importance of children in European Royal houses not just to perpetuate the lineage and dynasty but to ensure peace in the realm through appropriately matched marriages.  However, perhaps Margot had seen the challenges in her parents loveless union and wanted  something different for herself.

Although eight of Caterina's children survived to adulthood, none of  her sons sired any children bringing an end of the House of Valois through the male line and brought an end to the House of Valois.  However Henri, King of Navarre (Margot's husband) - though previously having fought for the Huguenot cause and a protestant, ascended to the French throne.  He is quoted as saying "Even France is worth a mass" and therefore converted into Catholicism for expediency to save his own kingdom from being run over by Catholic Spain. Unfortunately, there was no issue between Margot and the King of Navarre although the House of Bourbon continued through Henri's marriage to Maria de' Medici. 

As for me - in reading the book - I can only repeat the words of Christ, "let he who is without sin, cast the first stone."  I empathize with Caterina's version of events as recounted in this novel and pardon whatever mistakes she may have made in her role as Regent for her three sons.  The life of women has always been hard and women - without the benefit of a network & with other women making life difficult for them - have had to struggle to remain standing.   

The Confessions of Caterina de' Medici is "the extraordinary untold journey of one of the most maligned and misunderstood women ever to be queen".  Caterina Maria Romelo di Lorenzo de' Medici does not ask for absolution but simply explains her side of the story.

Happy Mother's Day.

. 

William Shakespeare - The Merchant of Venice

I must confess that I never had the privilege to study the Merchant of Venice although recent intellectual discourse with a friend who studied the Merchant of Venice in University led me to regret this state of affairs.  On a cold wintry night as my country men and women  took positions on the Gay bill recently passed in neighbouring Uganda, I decided to watch the 2004 adaptation of Merchant of Venice yet again.  Indeed, I had given this Bard of Avon a wide berth despite the fact that - in a impulsive moment - I purchased a box full of BBC adaptations of his plays.  How relieved we were when King Lear was excluded from the set books for study in my literature class.   There just was never enough time - in between other subjects - to prepare oneself for otherwise gruelling exams.  Not sure where I find the courage to rant about one of Shakespeare's most famous plays which has been read, acted, watched, studied and so much commented upon. 

 

The character that led me to re watch this movie was Shylock, the antagonist.  Apparently the title of the play was explained as "The most excellent History of the Merchant of Venice. With the extreme cruelty of Shylock the Jew towards the said Merchant ".   Now Shylock had the double jeopardy of being both a Jew and a money lender.  In Exodus 22:25 God warns the children of Israel  "If thou lend money to [any of] my people [that is] poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as an usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon him usury."   This and many similar verses were those that early Christendom took very seriously.  There has been great debate on what Usury means.  Islamic finance takes the more conservative view that any form of interest is usurious.  Many global Banks have been hard pressed to deal in Islamic Bonds & Money market instruments because the oil rich gulf states will neither borrow nor invest in deals they consider usurious.   Modern day Christendom - egged on by capitalism - takes usury to mean onerous interest but has not defined when interest must be considered usurious.  So as I mused upon this matter, I digressed to consider the terms of my mortgage and  declared the terms thereof quite usurious!!!!   As I pondered my mortgage repayments, I understood the antipathy towards money lenders in Elizabethan times.  

The story of  the children of Israel is an interesting one, with some Jews wondering why they are referred to as God's chosen people.  It seems - if one were to consider history - that they were chosen for persecution by people different from them.  Shylock entreats us...

Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs,
dimensions, senses, affections, passions; fed with
the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject
to the same diseases, heal'd by the same means,
warm'd and cool'd by the same winter and summer
as a Christian is? If you prick us, do we not bleed?
If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us,
do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?
If we are like you in the rest, we will resemble you in that.
If a Jew wrong a Christian, what is his humility?
Revenge. If a Christian wrong a Jew, what should his
sufferance be by Christian example? Why, revenge.
The villainy you teach me, I will execute,
and it shall go hard but I will better the instruction.
(Act III, scene 11)

Discrimination can be far-reaching, be it based on gender, religion, race, colour, sexual orientation, age, height, stature, weight, nationality, tribe, clan or disability. Development must focus largely on reducing these prejudices and providing equal access to things like health care, education, human rights, employment and public services. Every individual — no matter where they are from, who they are or what they are — must be able to realize their full potential without stigmatisation.  (Adapted from Kate Warren as quoted on Devex).  

So was I led to consider the plight of Shylock in the Merchant of Venice and juxtapose this against the events surrounding the aptly named Gay Bill.   People - myself included - are unable to debate this issue without drawing out swords.  The bright side of the story is that in assenting to this bill, M7 has brought otherwise quiet people out of the woodwork to wax lyrical on their points on view.  While opponents to the bill indicate rather unconvincingly that "choices have consequences", proponents of the bill swear upon the graves of their ancestors to defend against what they perceive to be an affront to their culture and values.  Meanwhile those affected plead "who will go for us...?"  An otherwise heterosexual Bible believing mother who has the 'misfortune' of spawning a child with homosocial tendencies  posted on a Christian blog "How do I deal with my son who is gay?".   I wager that this mother (like the mother of Moses) would  have to die first before she sends the child of her womb who sucked at her breast to the slaughter.; A homosexual adult stuck with a condition - which like Shylock - they cannot change and wonder why this was visited upon them. Cimamanda Ngozi Adichie writes an expose about her experience as a student in Nsukka, Nigeria. There was a classmate whom mates wondered: "Why can’t he just be like everyone else?";  a spouse finding themselves attached to a partner who seeks satisfaction in his or her own gender.  This led me to research what became of Ted Haggard, the Denver evangelist who visited male prostitutes while he had the audacity to rile against people with homosocial tendencies from the comfort of the pulpit.   Jewish Shylock wondered why Christian Antonio went to bridge his gap - money wise - from him.  Wasn't this the height of hypocrisy?

The world has not changed much through the ages.  The issues that irk us may have changed over time but the reactions on both sides of the divide are the same. The vitriol - in my neck of my woods - is currently directed towards people of a different sexual orientation.  We who wax lyrical against western influences regarding tolerance towards those different from us have named our children Stacy and Stephanie instead of Awinja and Amboka.  On this particular delicate matter of homosocialism we have agreed to disagree even though we have swallowed all other influences hook, line and sinker.  Watching Shylock in a hostile court, reminded me of the scribes and Pharisees who said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act.  Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?”    The woman caught in an act of adultery was fortunate that she was brought to Jesus for in the spirit of Solomon He said to her accusers:- “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.”

The issues in the Merchant of Venice are complex and have been debated at length by scholars. I have simply taken the issue of discrimination and juxtaposed this against the most topical issue that lawmakers have decided their energy is best spent upon. 

As for me, I have advised myself to first remove the log in my own eyes before I bother to draw the sword about the speck in another person's & to love my 'brother' as myself.

 

JMAW - Education: A right or a privilege?

Children who have aced their Kenya Certificate of Primary Examination (KCPE) but would not be taking up their Form One places for lack of funding need a lifeline. KCPE is, for the majority of Kenyans, a rite of passage akin to the ancient primary rites of passage because, rightfully or wrongfully, it separates the wheat from the chaff.

For most parents, it is a do or die situation. The 13+ year olds who are selected to join secondary schools to commence the journey to the next station have a fighting stab at life.  But for the child who does not manage the threshold required to proceed to Form One, a life of hardship and penury beckons. Oftentimes, they are destined, like the mythical Sisyphus, for a vicious circle of poverty that could last through generations.  Suggestions that the pupil might join a village polytechnic are academic because those institutions have a stigma and lack the resources to train and imbue 14-18 year old primary school dropouts with lifelong skills and a meaningful craft.

It is more painful for children who work hard and post good results but are unable to join the secondary school of their choice because their parents are too poor to afford it. Whereas, access to a good education is an inalienable right that should not be determined by the economic status of one’s parents, the anxiety for some children is heightened when they realise that their pursuit for higher education lies in jeopardy.  Their parents or guardians do not have the wherewithal to raise the requisite funds needed for Secondary School admission as the few Institutions who attempt to offer scholarships through Corporate Social Responsibility budgets are unable to service all the bankable applications received for funding.

For these future voters, despondency and hopelessness eventually sets in when they learn, rather belatedly, that the Constituency Development Fund (Bursaries) coffers are empty and that elected officials will avoid them like the plague at their hour of extreme need.  It goes without saying that in a Country where the gap between the rich and the poor widens by the day, most Kenyans feel constrained to make a difference – individually - that might bring about sustainable change.

The excitement is electrifying as individuals – vet the applicants; transfer, receive and account for funds; pay the requisite school fees; manage the school shopping; accompany the children to the various secondary schools; rally other people to join in and manage the myriad of attendant social protection issues.

For these girls and boys, from impoverished backgrounds, the Form One admission letter is simply been a mockery that reminded them of the futility of seeking to influence one’s destiny for the better.  The suboptimal options otherwise available to them ranged from repeating Standard 8, joining the family bricklaying business, enrolling in ill-equipped and poorly funded community day schools, dropping out of the school system altogether, becoming housemaids or getting married prematurely as soon as the opportunity presented itself.

It takes passion, commitment, vision and strong resolve to rescue these children without regard to the families, clans or sub tribes into which they were born.  The rallying cry  echoed Martin Luther King, Jr  who is quoted as having said "Life's most persistent and urgent question ...is, 'What are you doing for others?"

Through LIFELINE and many other similar initiatives, private citizens address the glaring faults of a system that treats education as a privilege as opposed to a right and hence consigns children from poor households to a perpetual life of poverty and stagnation from which they can hardly extricate themselves, fifty years after independence notwithstanding.  A government that seeks innovative ways to increase the tax burden of long suffering Kenyans, including taxing their chicken, their dead and traditional healers, must at a minimum guarantee its children 16 years of affordable quality education, from standard one to fourth form, irrespective of their station in life by enacting appropriate legislation and ensuring the implementation thereof.

---

Rolihlahla Mandela - LONG WALK to FREEDOM

On 5th December 2013, Rolihlahla Mandela walked into the sunset to rest with his forefathers who had gone on before him.  The whole world practically descended on Johannesburg & later Qunu to pay tribute to an enigma. As for me, I spent time on the internet beaming all stations & reading anything to provide me a glimpse as to the reason for the fascination with this one soul.  So, it made sense that I should buy Mandela's autobiography as part of my Christmas reading.  I needed to hear from the horse's mouth. For some strange reason I had never felt that need to do so until Mandela's passing.

I cannot do justice to this autobiography though I must say at the outset that it is an excellent autobiography to read. 751 pages is long and the reader needs patience & stamina to go through the narrative without tiring.

I must digress by recalling my second visit to South Africa in 1999. I made friends with a white student in my class of German & Boer descent.  As we chatted about the New South Africa, some of his first remarks to me were about just how little he knew about the plight of black people during his youth.  What he had read of Mandela & the struggle in the white press at the time was not so objective.  He mentioned that the only black person he was acquainted with was the lady who cleaned  his parent's home.  TS took me to various suburbs in the Cape including to a church in the black suburb of Kayelitsha.  I had an inkling that he was somewhat atoning for the sins of his people because he bent over backward to ensure that I had a wonderful time.  A coloured classmate  later explained to me the policy on different suburbs for different races and how his own family were relocated.  As for me, I had - in my school days -  listened to freedom songs, watched the play 'Sizwe Bansi Is Dead", read 'Mine Boy', 'The Power of One' & other books, Watched the movies 'Cry Freedom' & 'Sarafina' but never quite comprehended the extent of the South African struggle.  How can one understand it unless they really live it?

What can I say really?  Let me start at the beginning.  My best chapter remains "A Country Childhood".   I am not a country bum but reading this chapter reminded me of my parents' native villages. A number of the Xhosa customs were so similar to those of my people & so it was with nostalgic fever that I went through Mandela's description of life in the Eastern Cape. To add icing to the cake, I was reading this book from the serenity of my parents country home ( after a 10 year hiatus) listening to the mowing of cows waiting to be milked , sound of crickets, crowing cocks, clucking hens...I felt nostalgic for the beauty of a virgin life unaffected by the hustle & bustle of  modernisation.

I cannot imagine being incarcerated for 27 years in the prime of my life.  It is a very high price to pay...even for freedom.  As I write this, I know that there are many other unsung heroes paid the ultimate price with their lives.  

 

How God must weep that the Dutch Reformed Church propagated the policy of "Apartheid" - Apartness in his name.   I wonder what verses were used to sanitise a system so brutal and so contrary to the Bible's fundamental teaching.  I wonder whether there will be mercy or  pardon for those who committed atrocities in the name of God.  

 

The movie "Sarafina" appealed to my emotions. I have watched it many times and I still shed tears each time.  It is not possible to watch the snitch Kitaa and not weep for him.  It is not possible not to watch "The funeral song", "Siwelele mama", "Safa Saphel Isizwe" and not be moved even though not comprehending the lyrics.  It is impossible not to understand the plight of Crocodile, Sarafina & their fellow students who had grown tired of the hopelessness of an education system that was taking them nowhere.  But Politics is complex.  It is amazing that many countries turned a blind eye to the suffering of the black Nation.  There are those nations who put their interests ahead of those of the suffering populace for after all South Africa was a rich country. There are others who were more afraid of the communist threat than they were passionate about the plight of a people so down trodden.

 

'Long  Walk to Freedom' appealed to my intellect and helped me understand the 'why'.  I felt - probably due to space constraints - that there were too many gaps...too many unexplained things.  I would need to read many other autobiographies to understand the whole story.

This is a book that every leader must read & grasp.  The understanding that 'a nation's grievances cannot be suppressed, that people will find a way to give voice to those grievances' is one that many leaders ignore in their pursuit for power.

I have learnt a lot of lessons for myself.   I did not get all the answers to the questions in my mind. But, one key lesson for me was the finale. " I can rest only for a moment. ...I dare not linger, for my long walk is not yet ended".

Solomon Northup - 12 Years A Slave

I compelled Olivia to purchase Solomon Northup's narrative penned in 1853 or thereabouts for my Christmas reading.  My fascination was triggered by the fact that a Kenyan lass - Lupita Nyong'o is acting a part in the motion picture based on the narrative.  Ted also took me a movie watching so that I might be found on the right side of literary history. (What patriotism!)  As I write, Lupita has been nominated for Best Supporting Actress Award at the upcoming Oscars and invariably many articles are being written about her.  Like Obama before her, she has put Kenya positively on the map. The Mexican birthers be damned.

My sister, Wendy, remarked that this was one movie she has watched in which there was no opportunity to smile or laugh.  So saddened was she by the treatment of slaves that when the movie ended two hours later she 'felt cheated'.  As we exited the theatre - and considered other offerings -  she wondered why Ted hadn't selected something more palatable or uplifting for a Friday night.  My uncle quipped that the treatment of slaves was so gruesome that he was unable to appreciate Lupita's performance.  So incensed was he, when he countenanced the stripes on the bodies of the slaves. This is not a book to read or movie to watch when in a state of despair as it would only sink one further into the slough of despondency. Neither is it for the fainthearted.  Besides, the diction, syntax and accent in the movie is very old school that it might impede  one's understanding of the plot.

I complemented my literary exercise by reading reviews in the Independent, Guardian, New York Times, BBC & Daily Nation on both the book & movie.  I researched not just Lupita but also Chiwetel Ejiofor who plays the part of Solomon Northup. The 'funniest' related to fuss over posters in Italy advertising the movie. Brad Pitt who plays the minor part of Bass appeared prominently on the cover instead  of Chiwetel who, as Solomon Northup, is the main protagonist.  I was not surprised as Italy is still fighting her demons having been on the news lately on the racist treatment of a Cabinet Secretary of Congolese descent & the footballer of Ghanaian descent.  Oh! and Kenyan cartoonists have - in commemorating 50 years of our independence - satirised the common man's predicament as one of "50 Years A Slave".  I presuppose shackled  under the bondage of corruption, impunity, poverty, crime and unlimited vices from which the ordinary mwananchi is unable to extricate themselves.

I have gotten ahead of myself though. In reading the book, I was excited by 'old English'.  I marvelled at how spoken language has evolved since 1853. Were I to converse in the old way, my audience would have trouble understanding what I intended to communicate.  So it took me longer than usual to get through the 136 pages making up Solomon's tale.  When all is said and done,  as far as most motion pictures go, the movie is a faithful rendering of the narrative.  The producers have taken certain liberties without fundamentally altering the story line.

Like Solomon Northup, I too cannot "comprehend the justice of that law, or that religion, which upholds or recognizes the principal of slavery".  Over the years, atrocities have been perpetuated in the name of God & men/women have used religion and the law to subjugate their fellow man for personal gain.  Solomon absolves the slaver by stating that "It is not the fault of the slaveholder that he is cruel, so much as it is the fault of the system under which he lives".  This is the same explanation people profer about my country Kenya.  Is it the fault of a policeman when he bows down to bribery?

This is a book worth reading and I am glad that I bit the bullet.  The subject of slavery is complex but this narrative is rendered eye opening having been allegedly recounted by a negro, born free but unfortunate to be kidnapped and sold into slavery. Indeed Solomon was oblivious to what it meant to be a slave prior to his capture.  My favourite passage is "Let not those who have never been placed in like circumstances, judge me harshly".

In the end, Good eventually triumphs over Evil & Hoping against hope gets a just recompense of reward.  There are many who hold that this is a narrative of hope and indeed it is. Solomon Northup never gave up hope that he might - just might - one day be rescued from the sisyphean situation in which he found himself.  (The book demonstrates that even in the worst of human character there stand 'good' people like Mr Ford, Mr Bass, Ms Mc Coy & others who are willing to go against the grain.) Indeed all is not lost and we need not despair of this existence called life.  As St Paul famously taught us "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the assurance of things not seen."