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Submitted by Byron Emerson Until the movie, I had never heard of the emotional account of the slave ship "La Amistad." Some people believe this was one of the pivotal events leading to the Civil War. We had planned to write a review of this movie but Chuck Colson did it for us. Please view this movie before you consider it for your students. It may be very disturbing to the tenderhearted. But by all means, read the true historical account with your middle and high schoolers. Ironically, Amistad means "friendship" in Spanish.
BreakPoint Commentary -- July 23, 1998 By Chuck Colson Some of the hottest films of last winter are now hitting the video stores. Among them is the smash hit film, "Amistad", the story of a nineteenth century slave rebellion. There are some wonderful scenes in "Amistad", like the one showing Africans on trial for murder huddled in a corner of a dank Connecticut prison, poring over a Bible. The prisoners--who cannot speak or read English--use the pictures to put together the gospel story. When they come to the picture of Jesus ascending into Heaven one of them says, "This is where the soul goes when they die here." With a smile, he adds: "It doesn't look so bad." These are the opening paragraphs to the 7/23/98 broadcast of Breakpoint, a Christian radio perspective on the news. It is a ministry of Prison Fellowship. The folks at Breakpoint asked that we not post their information on other websites. You can receive the daily email transcripts of the program by subscribing here. Or subscribe to the monthly BreakPoint® Magazine or order individual transcripts via postal mail. Call: 1-800-995-8777. Here are some resources for Amistad study:
Possible reading selections: Amistad: A Long Road to Freedom, by Walter Dean Myers Freedom's Sons: The True Story of the Amistad Mutiny, by Suzanne Jurmain All We Want Is Make Us Free: LA Amistad and the Reform Abolitionists, by B. Edmon Martin
Some links: http://www.amistadamerica.org
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