Revealing the truth about slavery
Miranda Reinke

Everyone knows slavery is load and what happened all those years, but people don’t always think thank about an interval slave, and what happened during their life. In the book, Narrative of Frederick Douglass and the movie, Boots they are talking about individual’s life as a slave, but no ones life is the same. Therefore two slaves, Kunta Kinte from the movie and Frederick Douglass from the book have many things that make them different from each other. Like how the two slaves grew up and what different skills they’ve learned throughout their lives to survive. Although they have their differences they are similar and the fact that both Kunta Kinte and Douglass tried but failed to run away. These two men are bound like brothers and the movie and book shows how every slave was punished and wanted to escape their horrible environment. The book and the movie also show how different peoples life are as well. The similarities and differences of these two slaves are very important because how Douglass grew up made him the man he became after he was free, and Kunta’s childhood made him realize that he wanted to be free no matter what.
Frederick Douglass and Kunta Kinte both had a really different childhood. Kunta Kinte was born in Africa, he knew what freedom felt like but Frederick was born as a slave, he didn’t know what freedom was like. When Kunta Kinte was taken from his village he was about thirteen years old, he had just returned to his village because he was being trained to be a man or mandinka warrior. Before he was a slave he had problems of his own, he had a life, plans and his plans didn’t involve slavery. As for Douglass he didn’t live with his parents, only his grandmother. At the age of six, he was moved to a plantation, and then when he was eight, he moved to the city, where he made it his goal to be free. As a child, Douglass was given the chance to read when he started, he realized his situation as a slave, therefore he said “Freedom now appeared to disappear, no more forever”, ever since he started to read the idea of freedom it wouldn’t leave his thoughts. Kunta Kinte’s childhood was like an average kids life, he was able to be a kid with his mother and father. He could play which is unlike Douglasses’ no parents and no playtime. Every kid gets chores, for example in the movie, Kunta Kinte had to watch his goats, that was the chore that his parents gave him. As for Douglass his chores or orders were easier because he was much younger than Kunta. One of these tasks that Douglass was given was to watch over his master’s kids. The two boys truly had different childhoods, one born free, the other born into slavery. One had parents to teach him and to love him, the other didn’t know this emotion or the comfort of this parents, also one boy had a childhood where he was able to play and had chores like normal’s kids did, however Douglass was ordered to do something and wasn’t able to play as much as a child should at the age of eight. I believe their childhoods really separate them from being alike.
Throughout Frederick Douglass’s and Kunta Kinte’s life learned different skills to keep themselves alive. Frederick Douglass learned how to read when he was very young and this helped him when he was adult because when he was ready, he wrote a pass from him and his friend so he could run away. On page fifty-one he said “ I wrote several protections, one for each of us.” Douglass being able to read and write helped him escape and be free. He was also able to learn how to be a calker of ships. This skill let him have more freedom than any other slaves. He paid his master nine dollars a week, so he was able to work, to stay out late and sometimes sleepover at a friends house. Kunta Kinte on the other hand learned to speak English and also how to work on a plantation, where he learned many skills such as farming cotton or tobacco. Learning English and how to farm a plantation saves his life because if he didn’t learn these two skills he would have been beaten to death. Due to his master’s thought, he was unmanageable. Later on during his life he also learned to drive, which made him a more valuable slave to his master. Furthermore, both slaves gained different skills and knowledge that helped them with their unique situations.
These two slaves are bound like brothers because both understand the feeling of wanting to get out of slavery and to run away. Both men wanted to be free. Douglass said “I should prefer death to hopeless bondage”. He was willing to die to be free because being a slave was worse than death, Kunta Kinte felt he was the same way eh could stand knowing he was once free, how he is owned by another man. The slaves couldn’t escape by themselves without help. So Frederick Douglass had the help from his slave friends and Kunta Kinte had help from his friend the Fiddler. Also both slaves planned to share the freedom of running away.
Frederick planned to escape with his friends to freedom. Kunta Kinte was going to run. This shows how they both wanted other slaves to be happy, but unfortunately Frederick and Kunta fail to escape at least once. The two slaves both found a way to get away from their master and not get caught. I believe that since both slaves kept trying to run away and didn’t give up in what the thought was right which makes them very much alike.
The book and the movie show not all slaves gave up and expected their fate of being unhappy, that some slaves like Frederick Douglass and Kunta Kinte will take their bad situations and learn skills that would help them run away. Also the two medias show how different a man becomes just because of how he was raised. These factors are very important because when they grew up. The movie and book are similar because the character’s lives were similar. Why I think the character’s lives are the same therefore the book and the movie are the same because Frederick and Kunta both got punished, both tried to run away then failed and both got married, these examples are major parts of both medias, so since the main points are the same I believe the book and the movie are the same. They both show a slaves life and the events that took place during the slaves lives, but if I had to pick which of the two medias showed a more accurate portrayal of slavery. I would choose the book. The reason I would think the book shows more accurate information about slavery is because first it was written by a slave and someone who knew what really happened during his life and other slaves’ lives wrote it. Also, unlike the movie it’s true to what happened. Why I think the movie didn’t show really accurate information is because it showed white men catching slaves when that wasn’t the case. Therefore, the would be a better source if you wanted to learn more about a real slaves life and what it was really like.

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I have always loved things that are done with old vintage records, I thought that this was a very cleaver design.

• geralyngray
  Asbury Park, NJ, United States
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From geralyngray

Bookends made out of Loggins and Messina Records.

On Stage side 4
1. Back to Georgia
2. Lovin' Me
3. To Make a Woman feel wanted
4. Peace of Mind
5. Your Momma Don't Dance
6. Nobody but you

Mother Lode Side 1
1. Grown
2. Be Free
3. Changes
4. Brighter Days
5. Time to Space

This is two records upcycled into a pair of bookends

ETSY TEAM members SHOWCASE their recycled work

Giving a worn out dresser a facelift for under $50.00

finished dresser looks great against the fabric wall covering

Finished dresser made from scented drawer liners, mod podge and new hardware

I inherited my grandparents 2 bedroom sets that they bought in the early 1950s, they are solid oak and were of pickled wood, light beige, or yellow cream stain with sleek design and quality made.

Once again started with my trusty mod podge!

small rolls of animal print drawer liners

I used a whole jar in fact, a larger brush and got to work, prepared the dresser, just cleaned it really. The total cost on my papers was about $9.00. I tried to pick papers that would match the dresser. New hardware was essential which cost about $30.00

they certtainly needed help

The drawers are solid wood and put together with dove tails interlocking. they rarely make furniture like this any more. both my younger daughters got a set. However they positively smelled of tobacco , were very worn and many of the hardware pulls were broken or missing . For my daughters 15 th Bday I deiced to give them a face-lift!

applying a nice thick coat of mod podge

We had preivously lined her bedroom walls with zebra fabric, another quick fix for a fast re decorating. I wanted to do this very affordable and I did. when shopping a TJ MaXX I found more paper goodies (this has been a good source for me lately) I found papers that were meant for lining drawers (yes on sale) in animal prints. I figured they are paper and should work. they sure did! In fact they were a pleasure to work with, while applying the room was filled with lavender. My Husband did all the cutting, being a builder he does a great job!

cutting exactly to size the outer measurement of the lid of the drawer

Brunt Umber was the prefect choice

This project took my husband and I about 7 hours , this included emptying drawers, cleaning , and a quick run to the hardware store to purchase the handles. We were beat. I applied 3 coats of poly varnish to the tops of each dresser and two the drawers.

as always I paint the edges and scuffed the sides to bring it all

together

smaller night stand is against the faux fur fabric wall covering, we matched a variety of fabrics on the walls

recycle an old stinky couch!

ANIMAL SMELL ON YOUR FURNITURE? Paint it.

Taking an old couch that stunk of dog pee ( a reality for any pet owner, I'm just brave enough to state it) into a fun and funky outdoor couch! Yes paint gets rid of smell!








Allot of paint and gesso primer !
laying out the design


Fabric couch made plastic

This was one of the only pieces of furniture that my husband
and I have ever bought. Our home has been furnished with hand
me downs, inheritance or from the curb side clean up days that I so
often had cherished finding chairs that others threw away. I felt
compelled to add a dog into the equation, thinking rather
romantically that it made our home even happier. The girls
loved the idea. He, the dog, no longer with us, decided to claim
it as his own,which in his world , meant voiding that which
is meant for the sides of trees. Meant for anywhere in fact,
but on our new couch. I lost the battle, but so did he
(he went to the pound,let us hope he found a good home)
Our beautiful new couch was peeded on no matter what we did.
Late at night, while at the grocery store, with our backs turned, we
never saw him do it.

Indoor couch made into outdoor furniture

The couch smelled horrible. After getting rid of the dog, I
asked my husband to take the couch out onto our sunny
side outdoor deck. Our option was to throw it away. In the past,
when searching the streets for great findZ, I had found this charming
shaped chair that was ripped and covered in dog hair and it also stunk.
I thought I'm going to try to paint this, what can it hurt? After all it is fabric.
Just the other day while I told a friend that I was painting a couch,
he said"I didn't think you could do that." I said "Canvas is fabric,
so is the couch." Suddenly it made sense to him that of course
it could be done.

PAINT AND POLY eliminate pet smells!

Well, I dug in and painted that chair, I didn't use my good
paints and was hesitant and cautious at first,
but afterward, I was amazed at the transformation. The
smell was gone, the chair was made new. Up-cycled at its best.
In fact that chair is in my bedroom right now.
I covered the chair in poly and this is what I believe was the
ultimate order ELIMINATOR!

I told my husband that I was going
to try and paint the couch and see if it too could be saved,
otherwise we planned to take it to the dump. This thought did
not settle well with me.

Gesso, a must in this project.

This time I covered the entire couch in GESSO first.
This was a necessary step, albeit expensive.
This was a laborious task and not much fun at all. It
took nearly a full half gallon. White paint would not have
worked as well.

I purchased quarts of red,orange, yellow, black, light purple
and chartreuse from my local paint store. They were thin so
I let the sun bake on them and thickened them up a bit. The
beers I added for a bit of inspiration. I only paint on a nice
sunny day so I can get a bit of a tan,plus the paint drys faster.
I put the stereo up load with my favorite music, currently
TEEN DREAM. (you must check it out)



REQUIRES allot of paint and some beer
I am not finished. It is taking allot of paint and requires multiple coats.
I choose a very bright and hippie 1960s style. At my age I should be
ashamed, but ever since a young girl growing up during this colorful
and fantastic time, I have loved the colors and style of this periods
psychedelic art.

I plan to outline everything in black, apply highlights with my
finest paints, apply lots of glitter and at the
end but on multiple coats of polyurethane. The couch will become
like a plastic couch, it will have a fair amount of waterproof qualities,
and it will wash up easily.

I intend to keep it outside on the deck as an outdoor piece of
furniture. In the winter I will just cover it with a tarp. It will be
a wow conversation piece for our family. Already I receive
comments from the neighbors walking their dog. The children in
the neighbor hood think it is "really cool"

I am not finished yet, but I will let you know how my process is going.
So far I have about 30 hours into it. Difficult to believe. I thought I could get
it done in one day if I worked hard enough (and drank enough beer)
As with all art it takes time. But I am confident that this will pay off.
DAUGHTER helps as artist assistant .


My wonderful and very talented daughter Miranda has been
assisting me in this work. In fact she made the Happy face and
drew the peace birds. She helps in reapplying coats and filling
in large blocks of color.


It has been raining for days. I am anxious to get back to work.
At this time, I have all the color laid down. Now I get to do the
really fun work.



It took a few weeks but I got back to the couch, laid all the color out for the most part, the chartreuse and orange required multiple coats. After it dried some color faded and it too needed a few more coats. I have nearly gone threw all the quarts of paint. Now I have used my next level of paints, the one and two dollar acrylics in stand up tubes. I am beginning some detailing, experimenting really with color. I have left the birds for last, they only have a small amount of blue added. I tried to see how a black magic marker worked as an outline and it worked great. I will be using black and am considering buying other colors for the end look.

applying outline of accent paints . Hot sun and a cold beer ,I am beginning to see an end.