Leaves readers in a state of silence and awe as they reflect on and embrace Kindred's powerful message. Octavia Butler identifies the site of trauma as adaptation and the cause as an inhuman act of slavery. Butler led his audience to question the equality of not only the past, but also the present. Developing and thinking critically about the world around us is the message Butler wanted to convey. Are black people really free? Have blacks obtained all the rights reserved for them by constitutional law? These answers must be decided by each individual, but in the words of Jesse Williams, “the burden of the brutalized is not to comfort the spectator. If you don't care about equal rights for blacks, then don't make suggestions to those who do. Sit.”