Breaking the Chains of Psychological Slavery

Tyler Akers

African American Studies

Book Review

Rev. Clark

2-22-06

Breaking The Chains Of Psychological Slavery

Through out the book I agreed with what NA'IM Akbar had to say about slavery. Some of his views weren't the same as mine, but for the most part I enjoyed the book. Now I will share with you some of my thoughts on the book

In chapter one the book talked about "The Psychological Legacy of Slavery". One point Dr. Akbar made was about property. He said that the slave was permitted to owning very little. This made the slaves jealous of his master. This often resulted in vandalism and hatred toward the master. I agree with this because the slaves were only given the things that they couldn't live without. This would make me very upset to, so I can see where the slaves got some of there hatred toward the masters from.

Chapter two is about the liberation of mental slavery. The point Dr. Akbar made that I liked the most was about faith. You must believe that freedom was possible for it to come true. He said that faith is a shield from our fears and I couldn't agree with him more. If you don't believe something can happen and have faith in it, then it is more than likely not going to come true for you. The slaves had to keep there faith that one day everything would work out and that they would one day be free. Harriet Tubman's trips back and forth on the Underground Railroad were a huge act of faith. If she didn't believe she could get back and forth freeing slaves than it is more than likely she would have been caught. But her faith was greater than her fear which is why we now read about her in every history book you buy.

Chapter three was over racial religious inquiry and psychological confusion. I thought the Dr. Akbar made a great point about Religious Imagery. People can only go as far as there mind allows them to. If you have a narrow image of God then you have a narrow mind. Narrow mindedness prohibits people form seeing different views on matters and limits people's potential. I think that Dr. Akbar is saying don't be narrow minded about what God is. No one really knows what he looks like so don't get one image