Indicators of Freedom: Examples From the Film, “12 Years a Slave”
By Steven E. Mayer, Ph.D
I turned my list of indicators of enslavement into their more positive form, calling them “indicators of freedom.” Consider them aspirational. Every American and probably every being wants to know the free pursuit of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” as part of their personal experience.
I went to see the film “12 Years a Slave” the other night. I was a little apprehensive about going, given what I’d heard. To keep a clear-eyed focus I decided to write down all the indicators of freedom, or the absence of it, that I noticed. A little nerdy, I realize, but I must have needed the distraction.
The list grew quickly. The film explores the enslavement of Africans in this country, and is brutally thorough. It makes clear and painstakingly obvious that to not have these freedoms is to be dominated and oppressed. To not have these freedoms is to be in prison. To not have these freedoms is to be enslaved.
One can argue that many of these deprivations, if you just look at them one at a time, could be considered just ordinary offenses inherent in the human condition. Some might seem like petty limitations that maybe most of us have experienced at least a little. One at a time, they might not rise to the standard of “official” slavery.
But when bundled as part of a persistent pattern of deprivation from which one cannot escape, the picture of oppressive inescapability adds up. And when this pattern is enforced by official authority, it’s undeniably “official” slavery.
I turned my list of indicators of enslavement into their more positive form, calling them “indicators of freedom.” Consider them aspirational. Every American and probably every being wants to know the free pursuit of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” as part of their personal experience.
In my daytime role as evaluator of nonprofit programs, I can see uses for such a list. These indicators are all personal but at the same time, observable. A person can judge how much each indicator does or does not prevail in their own life and the lives of others in their own circle and communities. Tallied over large numbers of people, it’s likely one can see the legacy of slavery – and freedom – among those who have experienced it or who have heard the stories from one’s ancestors, even though the period of official slavery may have passed.
Such a list might be useful to people who know their own history with chains and the imperative to escape, to chart their progress and inform more effective advocacy for a program of reparations.
A set of indicators of freedom
- To be permitted to make a home where one wants, and to eat where one wants.
- To be permitted to work where one is able, and to be paid for that work.
- To be permitted to learn, and to express oneself.
- To be permitted to love whom one wants, and be loved back.
- To be permitted prospects for advancement, for living a better life.
- To be permitted knowledge of where one comes from, or else forced to pretend otherwise.
- To not be hurt by another’s hand, and be free of beatings and worse.
- To not be denied fair treatment in all dealings.
- To not be denied the opportunity to befriend another, or to be befriended.
- To not be denied the freedom to go where one wants, unafraid and unfettered.
- To be free of risk of kidnap and held for ransom or sold into slavery.
- To be permitted to live, not just survive.
- To live without fear of death by another’s hand.
- To not be brutalized or demeaned, and not be required to brutalize or demean others.
- To be known for who one really is.
- To not be separated forcibly from one’s family.
- To not be required to forget one’s children, or one’s parents.
- To not be lorded over by anyone thinking himself superior.
- To be able to use one’s talents, and to profit from one’s honest labor.
- To feel the satisfaction of work done well.
- To share in the bonhomie of one’s colleagues.
- To be permitted to escape the depths of despair.
- To not be made to vanish from the sight of one’s loved ones.
- To not be hanged within an inch of one’s life, by anyone for any reason.
- To live as an exceptional free man, rather than an exceptional nigga.
- To not be required to be a party to another’s merriment if you don’t feel like it.
- To make a break for freedom – and make it! — to escape the curse of the Pharaohs.
- To be comforted in this life.
- To not have the sanctity of one’s own dignity be violated.
- To be able to write a letter, and to send it without fear of interception or theft.
- To not be required to destroy one’s own means of salvation.
- To know God’s blessings, even as one’s life is ending.
- To understand that what is true and right in the eyes of God, is true and right for all.
- To not be required to suffer the moralizing of ignorant fools.
- To be united, or re-united, with what is rightfully yours.
- To have the world recognize that what you built, you built, and to receive fair compensation.
- To be able to know one’s own children and grandchildren.
- To have those who have transgressed against you know the meaning of their actions.
- To believe in justice and rescue as if it is possible.
This blogpost was published in an earlier form to this website on December 16, 2013.
How to cite this blogpost: Mayer, Steven E., Indicators of Freedom from the Film, “12 Years a Slave.” Minneapolis: Effective Communities Project. Downloaded from EffectiveCommunities.com [month, date, year]