This week, you began with Akala’s video orienting us toward a critical reflection on the British history and values that you witnessed in Week 1 with the London Olympics. Akala pointedly asks:
“which of the traditions of the people on this island [United Kingdom] would you be drawing on and identifying with? The one that promotes and reinforces race and class oppression and explains away the genocide of empire as a civilized mission? Or the one of relentless activism that secured for us the very fragile freedoms we have today?”
In your journal this week, please reflect on the forms of activism that you see in both The History of Mary Prince and William Blake’s “Chimney Sweeper” poems. Choose specific moments in each work (that is, directly quote and analyze) that offer insight into how the author promotes or enacts a critical response to the wrongs of slavery.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s48TnFbBCfA