Descendants of former slave Solomon Northup released a video, in collaboration with Fox Searchlight, to commemorate the day Northup regained his freedom — January 3, 1853.
Twelve years earlier the free man from upstate New York was kidnapped and sold into slavery in Louisiana.
Northup’s memoir, 12 Years a Slave, was recently made into a film by director Steve McQueen, starring Chiwetel Ejiofor as Northup.
The new YouTube video features some of Northup’s descendants, who now live all over the country.
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