I am here loaded with chains, and willing to suffer the fate that awaits me. - Nate Turner
Despite the controversy around the films Star, Director and Producer Nate Parker, The Birth of a Nation is a must see.
It is the story of Nat Turner, an enslaved Baptist preacher who lives on a Virginia plantation owned by Samuel Turner. With rumors of insurrection in the air, a cleric convinces Samuel that Nate should sermonize to other slaves, thereby quelling any notions of an uprising. As Nate witnesses the horrific treatment of his fellow man, he realizes that he can no longer just stand by and preach.
As recorded in The Confessions of Nat Turner he believed he was called by God to fight and kill his oppressors. "I saw God's hands stretched from east to west,... I discovered drops of blood on the corn, as though it were dew from heaven. It was plain to me that the Saviour was about to lay down the yoke he had borne for the sins of men, and the great day of judgment was at hand."
On Aug. 21, 1831, Turner's quest for justice and freedom leads to one of the bloodiest and most effective in American history. It ignited a culture of fear in Virginia that eventually spread to the rest of the South, and is said to have expedited the coming of the Civil War. In the immediate aftermath of the rebellion, however, many Southern states, including North Carolina, tightened restrictions on African Americans. Over the course of two days, dozens of whites were killed as Turner's band of insurrectionists, which eventually numbered over fifty, moved systematically from plantation to plantation in Southampton County. Most of the rebels were executed along with countless other African Americans who were suspected, often without cause, of participating in the conspiracy. Nat Turner, though, eluded capture for over two months. A Rebellion to Remember: The Legacy of Nat Turner
The movie is intense, my husband and I saw it together. There were scenes that I had to remind myself to breathe and I saw my husband wiping away tears. It's hard not to think about present day oppression.
Black folks may not be in chains but we are not by any means free.
The uprising of #BlackLivesMatter although centuries later, is formed out of the continued execution of Black Americans. Many today who protest do so tirelessly and without fear just as Nate Turner did centuries ago. They believe that it a calling to stand against those who will oppress others for the color of their skin or other bias. The message is timely, but I fear it is a difficult conversation to have now as the list of names turned into hastags continues to grow.
The Birth of a Nation calls for an uprising and continues to fan the flames of those that are tired of the unrepentant misconduct of America. Black folks may not be in chains but we are not by any means free.