Organ Removal in China

Kidney: $62,000
Liver: $98,000 - $150,000
Lung: $150,000 - $170,000
Heart: $130 - $160
Pancreas: $98,000 - $130,000
Cornea: $30,000

Found from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvAOOwvJMZs  and http://bigthink.com/philip-perry/what-you-need-to-know-about-human-organ-trafficking 

• Many victims are prisoners      
• every now and then, wardens will "clean out" the prison 
• Falun Gong practicers were the main victims at first
• and Uighurs but they weren't as common

Many of the first victims were practicers of the Falun Gong religion. Some were practicers of the Uighurs religion but this religion was not as common as the others so there were not as many victims from there. Other victims were prisoners that were brutally punished, at any given time, by drugging them and ridding them of their vital organs. Some prisons were "cleaned out" at random times by the warden. Documentation shows that these prisoners just became missing because they were no where to be found. Investigators have looked into the disappearance of these prisoners and has most likely come to the conclusion that these prisoners were kidnapped and killed while being forced to donating organs.

Learning History Through Film

   

This is a newspaper article proving that Solomon Northup was kidnapped and forced into slavery

I watched 12 Years a Slave and Glory and realized that many great historical facts and references were presented to me in a much more meaningful way. A movie allows the audience to become more connected and attached to the characters in the movies by putting the audience in a position where they are up close and personal with the characters. While watching the movie Glory, I was able to comprehend the way the African Americans felt about the first ever group of African American soldiers. They were extremely passionate about them being able to fight in the battle and because I was watching this, I could feel just as passionate about them fighting. After watching Glory, my class and I watched the movie, 12 Years A Slave. This movie was one of the most moving, heartfelt, and heartbreaking movies I had ever experienced. This was not just a movie that was to be watched, but it was to be experienced. 12 Years A Slave, put me in an uncomfortable, scared, and exhausted state of being. Being born an African American free man, Solomon Northup experienced many situations that most African Americans, during that time, did not get to.  He embarked on his journey of enslavement by greeting two men who were soon to be his kidnappers. Solomon wakes to discover, after being drugged, he was forced into a room where he was chained up and beaten multiple times. As the audience, we experience the fear and discomfort Solomon felt in this scene. I was put into a situation where I was emotionally and mentally connected to Solomon Northup. I felt exactly what he was feeling because I was able to mentally be in the position and situation that Solomon was in. 

This is a list of all the free slaves during the 1800's

Although these movies are historical movies with historical events, the director added additional scene to keep the connection between the character and audience alive. Without this connection and bond between the characters and the audience, the movie would fail because nothing ever clicked with anyone. The director must decide on what all to put in a movie, whether it is historically accurate or not. For example, the director of the film, 12 Years A Slave, created a historically inaccurate scene at the beginning of the movie to add emphasis on the brutality of slavery. When Solomon was on the Brig Orleans boat with numerous other slaves, a crew member grabbed Eliza with the intentions of raping her. While in the process of stealing the girl, a friend of Solomon’s attempted to stop the crew member, but was stabbed without hesitation. The idea of the director was to emphasize the brutal truth that slaves were nothing to other people and they were simply just there to satisfy the needs of their authority. 

Proof that Solomon Northup was forced onto the Brig Orleans to be sold into slavery. 

          While some parts of the film were inaccurate, some were historically accurate. For example, the whole autobiography written by Solomon Northup explaining his excruciating and exhausting twelve years of slavery. He explains the twelve years of torturous work that he endured for the twelve years of his life. According to a website I used, a documentation that Solomon Northup was on a boat, by the name of Brig Orleans, to be sold into slavery in Louisiana. Another document was found stating that Solomon Northup was enslaved on the Epps Plantation in Louisiana according to a website I used for research. A website I used for information, states that while living on the Epps Plantation in Louisiana, Solomon Northup wrote a letter addressed to W.M. Penny and Lewis Parker. This letter explained his situation of being a slave to Epps and it was crucial that he receive his liberation papers. 

Proof that Epps had slaves on his plantation

In conclusion, I believe that students should watch historical movies during school because they provide more clear of understandings than just simply reading text. Due to these movies, I was able to comprehend exactly what messages the directors, actors, and authors were trying to get across. In addition to just watching the movies, I believe that students should be given the opportunity to grow more in their education even after the movie by researching to discover the historical accuracies and historical inaccuracies. 

Proof that Solomon had met someone while enslaved who journaled about Solomon Northup's enslavement 

Sources:

• I used this National Archives blog to find the documentation proving Solomon Northup's freedom and captivity
• I used this website to find out what exactly the letter stated that was written to Lewis Parker and W.M. Penny to bring the papers proving Solomon's freedom
• I used this website to try to get a better understanding of what happened to Solomon Northup when he was enslaved
• https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84028745/1860-06-05/ed-1/seq-2/#date1=1860&index=3&date2=1860&searchType=advanced&language=&sequence=0&lccn=sn84028745&words=Case+Waggoner&proxdistance=5&rows=20&ortext=&proxtext=&phrasetext=waggoner+case&andtext=&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1&loclr=blogtea
• This website was used to discover the historically accurate events in the movie Glory
• I viewed this website to look for more evidence of historically accurate events throughout the movie 12 Years A Slave
• I also used this website to discover the historical accuracies in the film 12 Years A Slave

Practicing Incorporating a Quotation

I enjoyed the movie, Glory, very much and the movie review article captured all of the great things that I enjoyed about this movie.  This movie greatly captures the idea that so many strangers can come together as individuals to create and overcome a common obstacle. Kevin Levin, the movie review author, stated in his review, "The emphasis on a progressive story where the individual characters as well as the unit itself becomes more closely connected or identified with the national goal of emancipation and nationalism.". My quote references the way the African Americans came together as one unit to be emancipated and tear down the barriers in the way of their freedom. The African Americans were very powerful and tear jerking that I believed is shown in classes because of the powerful messages and historical details that are given and thrown at you in the movie. Robert Shaw learns to empathize with the African Americans while they learn to cope with being thrown straight into the war and the ways of living at war. 

Glory Movie Review

Film Review From Civil War Memories:

"The movie does a very good job of addressing the discrimination faced by the 54th Massachusetts as well as their heroic performance at Battery Wagner in July 1863. One of the themes that the movie captures is the slow progress that Col. Robert G. Shaw experienced in learning to more closely empathize with his men as well as the gradual changes that took place among white Union soldiers as they questioned their own racial outlook in response to the battlefield prowess of black regiments like the 54th. As for problems, well, they abound throughout the movie such as the profile of the regiment, which is presented primarily as a unit of fugitive slaves. Most of the men were free blacks from Massachusetts. Other problems include the time frame for the raising and training of the regiment which began in 1863 rather than 1862 as well as the failure to acknowledge Shaw’s marriage at any point in the movie."



My Paraphrase:

The author of this review, Kevin Levin, expresses his take away from the film Glory. He explains that the movie shows the struggles of discrimination between African Americans and White men. Col. Shaw learns throughout the movie how to feel and understand the emotions of his African American soldiers. He experienced the progressive changes of his viewpoint on African American soldiers and White soldiers on the battlefield. Some issues discovered throughout the movie were with some of the African American soldiers being fugitive slaves but most were free African Americans from Massachusetts. In addition to this problem, Levin also complains about the way the movie shows the timing of preparing the soldiers for battle. And finally, Levin also pointed out that the movie never showed that Shaw was actually married.

The Abuse of Power

Throughout this week we have learned a lot about how the ability to control authority can be very difficult and most of the time people abuse this power greatly. The cotton picking slaves were taken hostage and forced into mostly harsh conditions to work. Many people believe that slaves were treated poorly due to the stereotypical abusive white male slave owner and the ideas that slaves were not treated as humans but as animals. The false idea of slaves being abused by their slave owners creates false ideas for other humans. There is no specific evidence that states whether slaves were mistreated or cared for because all slave owners treated their slaves differently. Some slave owners treated their slaves with care and nurtured them because the healthier the slave the more efficient they worked. Whereas, other slave owners gave little to no food to the slaves and mistreated them.