'12 Years a Slave' Actress Speaks to
HU After Campus Screening

Hampton University and FOX HBCU Alliance presented a screening of "12 Years A Slave," along with a question-and-answer session with one of the featured actresses, Kelsey Scott, who played Anne Northup.

Ogden Hall was filled from top to bottom with students, faculty, staff, and the community to watch this film of horrific and disturbing proportions.

Davida Plummer, HU Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications professor and cousin to the actress, emceed the event and was personally moved from the intense abuse shown in the film. The film was about the true story of Solomon Northup, a black man who was kidnapped in Washington, D.C. in 1841 and sold into slavery.

"Generally, we hear slave narratives from the perspective of slaves who are born into that world. Very rarely do we hear the story of a man who's free and unjustly enslaved. It was not an anomaly. It was a business," said Scott.

Only 170 years ago, less than 10 percent of African Americans were free; and such progress opened a lot of dialogue during the Q&A.

"I hope this movie sparks conversation," said Scott, who wants the film to inspire people to understand their past and make progress into their future, despite "the shame and guilt that slavery is packaged with."

- Gianina Thompson