Harriet

By: Anton Massopust III

“I will spend the rest of my life and the last drop of my blood to end this monster of slavery!”

There are many people that fought to end the cruelty and injustice of slavery. Abraham Lincoln was one; John Brown was another. And there was Harriet Tubman…

Many people know that Harriet Tubman was Conductor on the Underground Railroad and that she fought to end slavery, but many people don’t know her entire story.

When Slave Minty (Cynthia Erivo) was 14, she was injured in an accident when a store weight was hurled at a runaway slave and accidently hit her in the head instead. She was injured and had spells where she would “Speak to God.”

Minty’s master refused to let her children from her husband, who was a free man, be born free, so Minty, facing being sold, decided to escape. She ran away and made her journey by herself from Maryland to Philadelphia with the help of a few individuals. Minty then took on the name “Harriet Tubman”. Tubman took a risk and traveled back to Maryland to get her husband only to find out he had moved on and remarried. So, Tubman decided to lead the rest of her family to freedom and  escape to the North. Tubman would go on to free many more slaves like a biblical superhero. During the Civil War, Tubman became a Union Scout and Spy who led troops into battle to free slaves.

Should we see “Harriet?” Yes, and I think Cynthia Erivo will definitely get an Oscar nomination and probably the movie will as well. The music and costumes are accurate to the period. It’s as if you are right there. The movie moves very quickly it’s definitely something you should see. Take your teenagers to see it, especially if they’re interested in history.