I always find that sharing those little tedious details is what creates visceral understanding of a situation. In this case, the true horror of being a liberated Black person in the 1800s and having to relentlessly work to rescue others, while surrounded by people who truly don't care.
On a lighter note, I use the same approach in understanding user needs as a product builder. I focus on letting people share the minutiae of their day rather than have them editorialize the big topics. By doing so, I get a lot of visceral insight and intuition.
Thanks for sharing this. I really enjoyed reading it.
This was a great example for the point that the author is trying to make. The fact that after all that effort, Ruggles was only able to free 2 out of 5 enslaved men is apropos. His victory was incomplete, incremental at best, and nearly got him enslaved again as well, but it was still a victory and it counted, especially for the two men that did get their freedom.
> Finally, on Christmas Eve, a group of armed black New Yorkers (reportedly not including Ruggles) boarded the brig Brilliante and managed to rescue two of the men.
This sentence kind of contradicts the author's point though? After all that tedious work within the legal system it wasn't even procedure that got any of these men freed, but actual direct action.
Here's a great candidate to stand on one of those empty plinths. The inscription could be "Social Justice Warrior" to return some valor to the epigram.
If you enjoyed this article you would enjoy the book “The Kidnapping Club” by Jonathan Daniel Wells. It covers the history of pre-Civil War New York. (As the title suggests, the bit in the article about “probably have kidnapped him and sold him into slavery” was more common than you might think.)
taneem ·6 days ago
On a lighter note, I use the same approach in understanding user needs as a product builder. I focus on letting people share the minutiae of their day rather than have them editorialize the big topics. By doing so, I get a lot of visceral insight and intuition.
Thanks for sharing this. I really enjoyed reading it.
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Clippybara ·6 days ago
Shout-out to a grindset abolitionist!
flocciput ·6 days ago
This sentence kind of contradicts the author's point though? After all that tedious work within the legal system it wasn't even procedure that got any of these men freed, but actual direct action.
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delichon ·6 days ago
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isleyaardvark ·6 days ago