Ninth Offering: Witness
"These facts must never be lost sight of. The race must not forget the rock from whence they were hewn, nor the pit from whence, they were digged."
“They were determined to have liberty even at the
cost of life.” Despite “abridgements” and “omissions,” one
day, you go. From Norfolk, Delaware, Maryland, cross
rivers, with tears, they wrote (and spoke) letters home to kin:
“Dear Mother,” I am writing you, loving you, “hounds was
on my” skin but I am safe, Mama. I am free here “where
they would never smell my track” I am “free as she is and
more happier” this Northern “air was precious” Mama! “A
secret passage” on “one of the steamers running be-
tween Philadelphia and Richmond, V.A.” I fled
the “barbarism of slavery,” I, woman, man, child
neither slave nor sibling. Human. Agent. Bright star.
Will wrote it all down. Took a drink. Wet his pen. Began again.
This past weekend, I had the pleasure of experiencing a Julia Mallory writing workshop. There she introduced participants to the “hai-ju,” a poem in thirteen lines, thirteen syllables each line and the thirteenth line offering “a closure or revelation.” This is my haiju for William Still, the author and abolitionist, who collected the narratives of Black freedom seekers riding the Underground Railroad to freedom out of slavery.
This week’s offering is dedicated to the fury and labor of the witness, and therefore to him, but also to Julia Mallory, all the women and gender-expansive souls who attended the “Whats the Plan?” Toni Cade Bambara weekend in Baltimore, and Toni Cade Bambara, ibae, who, was also a witness, whose writing offered testimony on Black culture, and Black cultural work.
The Toni Cade Bambara: School of Organizing documentary, directed by Louis Massiah and Monica Henriquez, offered various “lessons” inspired by Bambara’s life. One of the lessons was: “Be responsible for your eyes.”
Be responsible for your eyes.
Grateful forever.
This is offering #9 of Stitch Open My Eyes a 12-week community offering on history and memory in slavery’s archive. Because the Black freedom struggle during slavery should be a topic of conversation at every kitchen table. Follow along by subscribing above.