Some time ago, I read a book by Octavia Butler called, Kindred. I'm not a fan of science fiction, but this book was really good and its subject matter stays with me til this day. It reminds a great deal of a movie that I love so much, yet still have difficulty digesting- (because it makes me so angry while also helping me understand what happened in the past, with its graphic illustration. ) -Ethiopian filmmaker, Haile Gerima's movie, Sankofa . I've revisited the book a couple of times since I first read it. Kindred always makes me ponder a number of things. Such as, how I would cope if I were a slave? What would I do in order to ensure my survival? What kind of example would I set for others in my predicament? I would hope that I'd make the right decisions, while trying to preserve my own sanity and survival. Kindred addresses situations such as this, making it a fascinating and riveting read. Octavia Butler employs Science to relay America's painful past. She juxtaposes the present with the past, using time travel as the principal means of discourse. A Black woman (married to a White man) - living in 20th century California, named Dana is repeatedly brought back in time by a White, slave owning ancestor, named Rufus. Whenever his life is endangered, Dana makes the conscious decision to save him each time... her health and well-being at risk. She chooses to save Rufus, knowing that her free-born grandmother will eventually become his slave. Forced to endure the pains of slavery each time she's brought back in time, Dana realizes that she doesn't have the fortitude to endure such an institution. She even encourages a female slave named Alice to allow Rufus to rape her, thus ensuring her own birth. This experience forces Dana to ponder some tough questions about slavery and to make some difficult (if not questionable) decisions... whether to work within the confines of forced captivity willingly, while at the same time helping preserve the institution of slavery, and whether to save the life of a slave owning ancestor to ensure her own birth. Yes, this is a deep read indeed. I would like to know what some of the readers of this blog would do under such circumstances. What would you all do if you were forced to go back in time during any painful and difficult period, in any country... whether it be during slavery, as a Native American during 1492, as a Jew during the years of 1933-1945, or during the Great Depression, at random intervals during your present life? What if you were faced with the whole concept of sankofa, without any warning? What skills would you all use to cope? Could you handle it? Just curious.