12 Years a Slave – The Impetus

12 Years a Slave the 2013 period drama film and an adaptation of the 1853 slave narrative memoir provided the impetus for this project. Steve McQueen is a film director, producer, screenwriter, and video artist. He was born on the 9th October, 1969 in London, England to Trinidadian and Grenadian parents. He is the Director of this award winning film. As much as he was emboldened by Solomon Northup’s text to create the film I was inspired by his personal life story to overcome the denial of education opportunity at the age of thirteen while growing up in West London by being placed in a 3C2 class for boys destined for manual labour. He has known about slavery for as long as he can recall. To the son of West Indian parents slavery’s history remains the tale of his very existence.