Last evening I watched a great movie, Amazing Grace (2007) – available in DVD from Movie Village. It is based on the true story of William Wilberforce, the British Member of Parliament, who led the battle to enact a statute to end the British slave trade, circa 1800. The saga is one of perseverance set against a backdrop of a challenging personal health situation, and extreme political opposition. It took many years to get the job done but his tenacity is very inspiring. Wonderful to see the triumph of human rights over economic interests! I highly recommend watching this. An intriguing side note is that part of Wilberforce’s inspiration came from his preacher, John Newton, a reformed slave ship captain, who wrote the hymn, Amazing Grace. Interesting to consider too how this fits into the timeline of history of such events as the American Revolution, French Revolution and American Civil War.
