Thread by @BlkLibraryGirl

I saw a review of #Emancipationmovie that criticized it as a "superhero" film. I suppose this reviewer hadn't read many slave narratives:

1) Harriet Jacob's Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl.

Jacobs hid in an attic w/ 3 ft ceiling FOR 7 YRS before escaping slavery. 1/6

2) Henry "Box" Brown hid in a coffin size box THAT WAS MAILED TO THE NORTH. Can you imagine how long he had to lie in his own urine & feces to be free? #Emancipationmovie 2/6

3) Ellen & William Craft posed as a White southern gentleman--Ellen was the gentleman--& his enslaved Black servant & traveled FROM GEORGIA TO THE NORTH in disguise. #Emancipationmovie 3/6

I could continue all night. But let me give you the ultimate "superhero" story about my ancestors:

THE MIDDLE PASSAGE, where enslaved Africans lay chained to each other--again lying in their feces & urine--in a space approximately EIGHTEEN inches high. #Emancipationmovie 4/6

Reviewers really need to stop acting like it didn't take extraordinary intelligence & courage to escape slavery--& to survive its aftermath.

#Emancipationmovie is not a superhero story. THIS IS BLACK PEOPLE IN OUR EVERYDAY LIVES. 5/6

I'm sorry that Black people are fabulous, but how do you think WE ARE STILL HERE?

Do you think we are ordinary? We are not. Anyone who survives what is supposed to kill them are extraordinary. *
That's all. :)

*Toni Morrison is on record saying this.

#Emancipationmovie 6/6