Harper Has A 'Cathartic' Experience

The past can provide perspective.

A stop Hill Harper (CSI: New York's Dr Sheldon Hawkes) made while campaigning for President-Elect Barack Obama caused the actor to reflect on the past. "I was in Virginia (on Nov. 2) about to speak at a rally in Charles City, and on my way there stopped and visited one of the plantations," he told USA Today. "I had a really amazing, kind of cathartic experience as far as the resonance of campaigning for the first African-American president, connected to the fact that the plantation where we happened to stop was John Tyler's, who was the 10th president of the United States."

"It's almost like you could feel the ancestors, the slaves who had worked so very hard on that plantation for hundreds of years and created wealth for so many individuals who went on to these positions of powers," Harper continued. "To be in a position of campaigning for (an African-American) candidate, it was a pretty incredible thing." He described the plantation as the most unexpected place he'd ever visited. "I was not thinking about plantations at all," he explained. "I was thinking about the election that was happening in the next couple of days and what were we going to do to make sure that folks in Virginia really turned out and voted. That was really surprising."

Another stirring experience for Harper happened when he was visiting Africa. "The most impactful place that I've been to where I was just completely awestruck, happy, moved is Victoria Falls between Zambia and Zimbabwe," the actor shared. "It is probably the most beautiful and romantic place in the world. I wasn't there with anyone significant but I would absolutely go back with my future wife. I was just blown away by the sheer majesty and awesome strength of these falls and what they represent. And then I went white-water rafting below it down the Zambezi and had a wonderful experience."

The full interview can be read at USA Today.

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