Silenced

In the past few days there has been the buzz for which film and which actors were going to win a golden globe and now we're off to the academy awards. Although I've seen most of the films that are predicted to be nominated, the one that struck me the most was "12 Years A Slave" for its honest and brutal depiction of slavery in the United States. It also reaches deep into the what it would feel like to have no hope. at. all.

In late November, I saw the film twice within a week with two different groups of students. Typically I would have a short discussion following a film but it was so raw, so overwhelming that the only thing one could do was be silent. And we were.

And that's when I realized that the use of the "N" word could very well be silenced by watching this film. When one hears the word used in its fullness as a weapon of oppression over and over again, I can't help but think that one would never use the word knowing the backdrop of our shared history in its stark reality.

Sobering and, yes, silencing.

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