This week, I read the book Freedom Over Me by Ashley Bryan. In this book, Bryan creates persona poems for eleven slaves that were to be sold along with the Fairchilds estate. For each person, he includes their name, age, how much they are worth, a poem about their lives, a poem about the dreams and an image of what they might look like. Each person represented in the book has a different story and has a different set of skills that Bryan highlights beautifully with his words. He presents each person as a person who has a useful set of skills that are very valuable but are being abused through the system of slavery in the 1820s. He is bringing these slaves alive and presenting them in a unique way that really focuses on the people and their struggles. This would be a great book for almost every classroom, and it presents a new way that a reader can look at slavery and imaging the lives of people during this time. It creates an empathetic reader who better understands.
Bryan would not be considered an Own Voices author when writing this book, because it is about slavery and I do not believe that he identifies as a slave. However, it is apparent that he has done extensive research about slavery and about the Fairchilds estate. In his author’s note, he did say that “Many years ago I acquired a collection of slave-related documents. They date from the 1820s to the 1860s. I was deeply moved by these documents and have long wished to work from them. Finally, I chose the Fairchilds Appraisement of the Estate document from July 5, 1828 to tell this story.” He does have knowledge of this estate and knowledge of slavery during this period and he needed to have that knowledge in order to create an as accurate as possible telling of these individuals’ stories. He also needed that knowledge to make these stories feel real and make these individuals into human beings and not just a price tag on an appraisement document.
I really enjoyed that throughout this book in the different stories and in the different dreams, Bryan includes the words “Freedom! Oh, Freedom!” I think that is a great way he tied all the stories together and made me realize how awful it must have been for slaves. I had always known that the lives of slaves were brutal and bad, but having the reoccurring emphasize of freedom presented in this book made me realize that all these people want was just to be free and be able to live their lives how they want to live them. It makes me think about all the things that I want and that I dream about having one day and how those things seem so frivolous compared to the dreams and wants of people who were slaves. It also makes me feel very compassionate and heartache for people who were slaves such a long time ago. In the midst of all the hardships they were facing, the still found strength in themselves, in their memories, and in their gifts, something that is very admirable. This book has given me a different outlook on slavery and I now have an even further inner feeling of sorrow towards individuals who were forced to be slaves. It is just very heartbreaking to me.
One thing that I really loved about this book are Bryan’s illustrations. When he created the portraits of the people in the book, behind them he included collaged historical documents related to slavery. Taking the time to look at these and read what they say are really interesting and shocking. Some of the things the documents say are pretty terrible and add to my further empathy towards the individuals presented in the book. For example, on the page about Qush, some of the quotes from the historical documents say, “The owner of,” “own proper goods,” and “will be sold.” All these are referring to people as objects that they can pass around and sale as they please without any regard to the individual in question. It is showing that slaves were treated much like an animal. Another quote on Qush’s page that stood out to me was, “DANDRISGE, a mulatoo, aged 26 years.” I was not sure what a mulatoo was and it turns out it is an individual with one white and one black parent. That just shows that it really didn’t matter who these people were and who they came from, if they had any darker skin or came from someone who was black, then they would be treated poorly and forced into slavery.
These pages that show terrible things of the past via these historical documents are combatted again the bright and vibrant imagery of the dreams of the slaves. For example, the image that goes along with Qush’s dreams is bright and beautiful. It has a rainbow of colors on it. There are people smiling and having fun while playing instruments. From looking at the image I image they are making beautiful music without any worry in the world. It is a very powerful thing when looking at the images and contrasting them from one another. I know I keep talking about empathy in relation to this book, but again that contrasting of the images just makes me more and more empathetic to those individuals and more understanding of their lives and tribulations they faced along the way.
The images in this book made me thing about Roberta Price Gardner’s article, “Discussing Racial Trauma Using Visual Thinking Strategies” when she talked about how a Black man was in chains on his knees that appeared like he was begging and pleading to a white man and when her class saw the picture, they giggled. To me, the images Bryon creates do not lead the students to giggle or laugh about what is being presented. By creating these powerful visuals and words that go along with them, Bryon creates a sense of empathy in the viewer that I do not think would lead to students being negative towards these individuals or this topic in general. One thing that Gardener said that really stuck out to me that I think embodies this book was, “They indicate her desire to avoid ‘damage only’ narratives about the lives and legacy of African American people. The stories speak of individual desires and the beauty in daily life, illustrating the complexities of Black experience rather than the restrictive and one-dimensional narratives of pain and damage” (pp. 339). I feel like Bryan’s representation of these characters includes some pain and damage of these people, but he also includes their desires and the things that these people found joy in. For example, in Stephen’s narrative, Bryon includes “Learning how to work with measurements and tools gives me an inner strength. I seek out the secret life of each tool” and then on the page with Stephen’s dreams it talks about all his desires and one part that stood out to me that that combats the damage only narrative is the part of, “My owners see me as their property, following their orders doing their bidding. But through my carpentry I feel the accomplishment and pride of a free man.”
I also loved the opened-ended questions that Gardner presents to initiate discussions about visual imagery. I think that they are good questions that get students really thinking and would be very beneficial to have on hand when teaching. The questions are:
1. What is happening in this picture?
2. What do you see that makes you say that?
3. How does what you see make you feel?
4. What does seeing this image make you wonder?
5. What questions do you have about what is happening, and what would you change in this picture?
Another book that goes along great with the idea of avoiding the damage only narrative of African American people is Freedom in Congo Square. This is another book that talks about slavery and would be more appropriate to use with a primary grades class like kindergarten or first grade than Freedom Over Me just because the language in it is simpler and there is not as much text there for them to process. Freedom in Congo Square talks about all the daily things that slaves were required to do, but every time it said something the slaves had to do, the book also included the positive thing that they could look forward to. The book talks about how on Sunday’s slaves had the day off and would meet in Congo Square to do whatever they wanted on that day. The book talked a lot about how they played music and danced, and some kept up their African culture during this time as well. The book also portrays a desire for freedom that the slaves had much like Bryan did in his book. Gardner writes in her article, “The book explores enslavement and the desire for freedom. It uses poetic verse and multi-layered visuals in a way that is ‘therapeutic and testimonial.’ The enslaved people are portrayed with dignity, desire, and imagination without false benevolence or the denial of racial cruelty” (pp. 339). This book shows slavery for what it was and not as a false narrative. I think that this would be a good book for any elementary grade to gain a better understanding for what slavery was and have empathy for those individuals who were forced into it. This book may not have very many words in it, or it may be seen as simple, but it is really powerful and impactful. The verses were written intently and in two lines they carry great meaning and really get the reader thinking. Not only does this book get the reader thinking and analyzing through its words, but the images also lead the students to think and have a greater desire to analyze what is being portrayed in the images. The words don’t always tell you exactly what is happening, and the reader needs to derive more information on the narrative portrayed in this book from the images.
Additionally, this book has a lot of useful information about slavery and some more background knowledge of different laws that were enacted that affected them. For example, the book talked about how it was a low in Louisiana that slaves got Sunday’s off and then later on a law was created that said they could only meet at Congo Square. Those were two pieces of information that I did not know about and it makes me wonder what other information about slavery I did not know about. Did other states have similar laws? Did other states enact harsher laws regarding the treatment of slaves? I now have all these questions in my head that I will need to look into to find out more information. I think that is what may happen with students as well. I could see them having a lot of follow up questions after reading this book and analyzing the images. I think that type of questioning would lead into a great research project about finding information about specific slaves and their lives or about trying to find more laws that affected people who were slaves and thinking about the impact those had on them. Depending on what grade I teach, there is a lot that can be done with this book, and there are many ways that I can think about taking the information presented and using our ideas to further the information we just learned about. It would be trying to get students to further their learning and interact with new material in different meaningful ways. Video to listen to the book below.
After reading Freedom Over Me, we were challenged to create our own persona poem much like Bryan did, but we had to create one for a character from A Crack in the Sea. I decided to embody Caesar when writing my poem because I felt a strong connection to her when reading the book and I like her grit and eagerness she has that is combated by her desire to be wanted. Writing this persona poem was a real challenge. In order to be better suited for this challenge, I went back through and reread all the passages in the book that talked about Caesar so I could really focus on just her from the book. It was really hard for me to find a place to start my poem and it took me a long time before I finally found a way to start it and once that happened, my hand just started going and I just kept writing. I referred back to the book occasionally to gather some more details about specific things in Caesar’s journey through the book just to make sure that I was portraying her correctly. I chose to focus on Caesar’s thoughts as she was riding on the Kraken. I had not originally intended to do this, but as I was writing, it kind of just made sense to me to think about her thoughts in that moment. I kind of found Caesar to be this character who is strong minded yet has a desire to be loved by others and to belong. I tried to portray both those sides of her here because she is a very complex character and I feel like as a reader, I did not get enough of her in this book. I would have loved to have read more about her.
Persona Poem
Caesar
As an orphan with great gifts.
I derive my passion from the great
Venus
Whose story inspires me.
I can walk under water for hours,
Yet I have no one to walk with.
Ever since my mother passes,
No family is what I have
But long for.
Raftworld makes me happy,
But something is missing
I love seeing the birds fly
And listening to the children
Practice with their instruments.
I especially love the food.
The King has no use for me
He is in need of guidance.
I wish to provide him with
Clarity.
I wish to be useful.
I am on a journey with my new friend
Kinchen.
At first she didn’t like me
But now I think we are good friends
Secretly I hope she see me as more of a
Sister one day.
I am jealous of her protectiveness
And her family.
Man do I long for someone to love me
The way she loves Pip
However, this has been an
Amazing journey
Full of
Amazing adventure
I mean I am on the back of a Kraken
On a rescue mission
Just amazing.
The King may be insensible
Now.
And he may loath me
But I got moxie
And am not willing to let him be
Imprudent.
I know who Putnam is
And this is not him.
I’m excited as a baby swimming for the
First time.
But I’m also as anxious as a King on
His first day of ruling.
Who knows what is to come
Who knows what I will say
Who knows where my journey goes.
I’m just hoping this all works out
Hoping Kinchen finds Pip
Hoping to change the kings mind
Hoping to find my family
What a great gift that would be
Amazing.
After writing this poem, I feel like I better understand Caesar and her role in the book. I feel like writing this poem allowed me to better piece together the complexity of her character and her progression through the book as we get to know her better. In the article, “Walking into the Wardrobe and Through the Sliding Glass Door: Writing Persona Poems with A Crack in the Sea” the authors write, “the persona poem can serve as a wardrobe that presents the reader-turned-writer with the opportunity to try on and borrow the appropriate attire and tools in order to move through that sliding glass door better outfitted and equipped to inhabit the (character’s) world” (pp. 46, Frye et. al.). I feel like that is exactly what I could do here, I better understand the reasoning behind some of her choices and have a sense for how she views the world and how she would take on a new challenge. Even though Caesar and I have lived very different lives and I am 10 years older than her, I feel like I really understand her motives and what drives her, I am now better able to see aspects from the book differently having been able to see the story from her point of view.
I feel like having students write these persona poems in a class for A Crack in the Sea or many other books would be very beneficial and an invaluable tool to create more empathetic readers. In the article, “Walking into the Wardrobe and Through the Sliding Glass Door” the authors write, “Taken together, it is evident that teaching students to write persona poetry enhances the readers’ capacity for empathy. As students walk into the wardrobe of persona poetry, they are transported into the lives of ‘others,’ and through imaginative reconstruction, they attempt to understand the complexities of the character’s inner world, the poet’s craft and structural moves, and are better prepared to move through the sliding glass door” (pg. 50, Frye, et. al.). Using all of these resources to construct a lesson is giving students so many different valuable skills at once. Not only are they getting access to two wonderful books that have very diverse characters and strong stories, but they are also gaining knowledge about how to be more empathetic and have a greater understanding/compassion for characters they read about in books. What a powerful way to get students engaged and excited about reading and writing. Not only did I love reading A Crack in the Sea the first time through, but once I picked my character to focus on and went back through the book to find parts of it that she is in, I found a new understanding to different events that happened and found hints to later events that tied ideas back together. After writing my poem, I understand the book better than I did before and I loved doing it. I loved the challenge of taking on one of the characters in the book and getting into her mindset in order to create an accurate representation of her inner thoughts and motivations. I can see students really getting into and engaging with this who unit that the author present in the article “Walking into the Wardrobe and Through the Sliding Glass Door” and if I teach in an upper grades class, I would love to try this out with them and if I do not teach upper grades, then I will have to share the article and new learning I have with another teacher because I think it is awesome.
If I do decide to use the ideas presented in the article, “ Walking into the Wardrobe and Through the Sliding Glass Door” then using the outline for an “I am” poem presented in the article, “The Voices of Children” would be beneficial to students. I was originally going to write my persona poem using this outline; however, once I got started writing, my mind just went with different ideas and found inspiration not working from a template. I know that not all students are going to be able to work out a persona poem on their own without some structures. I am usually a student who like things to be structured and I like to know exactly what is expected of me to follow because my brain usually works better when it has more specific guidelines, so having the option for students to follow an outline could prove to be very beneficial. It is also a great starting point. If students need to start with that outline to get their ideas going, I think that would be great and then as they are writing if they want to change it up, they can, or once they are done and want to revise it and change things up they can do that as well. Also, in the article, “The Voices of Children,” the authors write, “These students were able to include more than just factual information… they revealed the emotional and endearing perspectives of Sumiko and Frank” (pp 32, Frye & Hardin). Through doing activities like these that get students thinking about the texts in new ways, students are able to reach greater understanding and go further with the text that moves past just answering questions about something you read. I would have loved to do an activity like one of these when I was in school, but we mainly just read and answer questions or wrote essays that were about an assigned topic/theme from the text we read. When I was growing up in school, I have never felt like I have been able to dive into a book like I have been able to with Freedom Over Me and A Crack in the Sea and I think that if we can get students to dive deeper, they enjoyment for reading is furthered and they will be learning a lot along the way, more than just having to answer questions.
Sources:
Bouwman, H.M. (2017). A Crack in the Sea. New York: Puffin Books.
Bryan, A. (2016). Freedom over me: Eleven slaves, their lives and dreams brought to life by Ashley Bryan. New York, NY: Atheneum Books for Young Readers.
Frye, E. M., Hardin, B. L., Bouwman, H. M., Stumb, A. E. (2018). Walking into the wardrobe and through the sliding glass door: Writing persona poems with a crack in the sea. Voices from the Middle, 26(2), 46-52.
Frye, E. M., Hash, L. A. (2013). The voices of children: Re-imagining the internment of Japanese Americans through poetry. Social Studies and the Young Learner, 25(4), 30-33.
Gardner, R. P. (2017). Discussing racial trauma using visual thinking strategies. Language Arts, 94(5), 338-345.
Weatherford, C. B., Christie, R. G. (2016). Freedom in congo square. New York, NY: Little Bee Books.
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