I won this book from MJ at Wandering in the Stacks and
finished reading it back in May. There
are few books that can completely change the way you think about something. For
me, this was one of them.
Week after week, I’ve pondered whether or not I should write
about this book. I did not think it was
possible for me to articulate the way it touched me. But I felt it would be irresponsible for me to
have this platform and not write
about his book. And so I did.
I’ve never read the work of an author that writes with so
much emotion. After reading this book, l
understand the difference between superficial desires and yearnings that come
from the soul. For anyone that’s ever wondered what perseverance looks like, it
is epitomized in Frederick Douglass.
As the author documents his journey from slavery to freedom,
the defining moment is the one in which he realizes his pathway to freedom is
education. And once he learned to read,
he became aware of his condition. Douglass concluded that to make a contented
slave it is necessary to make a thoughtless one.
The realization that education and slavery are incompatible with one another is profound on many levels. The author is obviously discussing slavery. But today, it's about much more than that. What would become intolerable to you
if you took a moment to further educate yourself?
Never again will I under appreciate the value of my
education. I’ve long adored this quote, “The
first power we have is knowledge.” After
reading this book, I get it.
“I prefer to be true
to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than
to be false, and incur my own abhorrence.” Amen.
The Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass
