Like One of the Family (26 page)

Harriet spent her little-girl years workin' out in the fields plantin' and ploughin' and doin' all manner of hard work…. No, she could not go up to a cop and tell him about it! … Billy, I have explained already how slaves had no rights, and I'm not goin' to keep goin' over the same thing all the time!

Now, the overseer was very cruel…. Janey! Don't be interrupting … Oh, well, if you don't know what a overseer is, I guess I'll have to tell you. A overseer was a man hired by the slavemaster to see that the slaves did a lot of work and to also beat them if they didn't do everything the master wanted them to do.

One day the overseer hit Harriet in the head with a piece of iron because she tried to stop him from beatin' another slave. He hurt her real bad and for a time it looked like she wouldn't live. All winter long she was sick-unto-death, and she didn't have no hospital bed or doctors or trained nurses, but she lay on a heap of rags while her mother tried to nurse her back to health as best she could.

… Barbara, are you out of your mind? … No, Superman and Batman did not go after the overseer! I am tryin' to tell you kids a real story 'bout real, live people, if you will let me! There was no men flyin' through the air and swoopin' down on no overseers…. No, she did not have a ray-gun! Listen to what I'm sayin', please!

She did get back her health, except for one thing. Her poor head was so hurt that she was left with sleepin' sickness…. By that I mean, several times a day she would drop off to sleep for a minute or two without even knowin' it, and this sickness stayed with her for the rest of her life and she had a large scar on her head.

… Yes, indeed, she hated slavemasters, and her heart was troubled not only for herself but for all the rest of her people who were in bondage…. That's slavery! Some years later she told a friend, “I had seen their tears and sighs, and I had heard their groans, and I would give every drop of blood in my veins to free them.” It became her burnin' desire to set them free.

Now, there was a thing talked about in those days that was called the “underground railroad,” and it was her dream to ride it to freedom…. No, children, it was not a subway or any other kind of train that you could see and neither was it no fairytale. It was a string of human bein's, black and white folks who met the slaves and secretly took them from house to house, over field and hill and meadow, through the forests and streams, across rivers, always followin' the North star in the sky, on toward freedom in the Northland.

… Kenny, what do you mean by sayin', “Miss Mildred sure makes up good stories!” Didn't I tell you that every bit of this is true! … I cannot help it if it is not in your school book! Didn't I explain that to you! That's why I'm
tellin'
the doggone story! The reason you won't find it in your dag-nabbit book is because … You're right, Marge, I must not lose my temper and get to usin' bad language in front of these little ones. Children, forget that I said dag-nabbit and doggone and don't any of you
ever
let Aunt Mildred hear you sayin' words like that 'cause it's ugliness and also rude.

… Janey, you can ask enough questions to keep a soul tongue-tied! … If you children will be patient, I will be able to tell you all about Miss Tubman because you are
guessin'
, but I
know!
One night Harriet ran away and kept goin' until she got out of slaveland and arrived in Pennsylvania. She found many friends in the new land, but she was not completely happy because it made her sad to think of her brothers and sisters and friends still sufferin', and she made up her mind that she would free them also, so she looked around to find a way to go back down South and bring her friends up to freeland.

No, there was no airplanes at that time or motorcars either. The first thing she had to do was make some money, so she did domestic work the same as me and Miss Marge, only she worked a lot harder in laundry rooms and such.

Harriet decided that she'd be a conductor on the Eastern line of the underground railroad. Oh my, that underground railroad was somethin'! Folks who went down to lead the slaves over the right paths was called “conductors”; folks who took them into their homes to rest and receive shelter from the law was called “stationmasters” and their homes was called “stations.”

Harriet met a lot of these good people and she was so delighted to find out that there were so many good white folks called “Abolitionists.” … Bobby, before you ask me what that means, I will tell you. Abolitionists were people who thought slavery was wicked and thus made up their minds to do away with it as fast as they could…. Yes, Jimmy, there were plenty of colored ones, and they all worked together nicely so Harriet decided to join up with them. She became a “conductor” on the underground railroad.

… No, children, I do not think that she knew Davy Crockett. Now let me go on with the story! Harriet was a conductor for ten years and never lost
one
of her passengers. Her name became so famous that everybody who loved her called her “Moses.” I won't tell you what the other folks called her because you are little children and the less you hear of such, the better.

Sometimes as she neared a slave plantation, she would sing spirituals to call the slaves to her and I like to think that she sang “Steal away home to Jesus” or “Swing low sweet chariot.”

Now, Mabel, you are bein' rude and a little bit sassy. I would expect that you'd behave better…. What do you mean by sayin' “I don't believe you?” I told you that it is not in the schoolbooks because bad folks don't want us to know about all the great things our people did…. They don't want us to know 'cause if we think that we did nothin' at all, we will feel
inferior
and if we feel like we're lower than other folk, then we will expect to be treated like we're lower!

No, Marshall, there's no movin' pictures been made about Miss Tubman. Mabel, if you tune up to cry just 'cause I scolded you, I'm gonna send you home…. Marge, you see how these children are bein' kept in the dark? It's a wonder they know anything at all. It makes me mad through and through. It ain't right!

Yes, Kenny, I'm goin' to tell the rest of the story, but I'll thank you children not to be almost callin' me a outright liar! … You can ask questions, but don't be holdin' me up for scorn! Do you really believe that I would sit down and tell you a pack of lies? Do you think that I'm so sneaky and mean as to make fun of you and try to fool you?

All right then! Harriet took so many slaves out of the South 'til they tacked up signs on the trees, offerin' a big reward for her capture. Forty thousand dollars! … No, they never did catch her, although once she had a sleepin' spell overtake her, and she fell asleep smack-dab underneath one of them signs…. No, nobody noticed her 'cause they was as uppity as you children and couldn't believe that a woman sleepin' under a tree could be the great “Moses.”

Of course, you have all heard of the great John Brown…. Well, I'm glad to see that Janey is raisin' her hand and is able to tell us something about him…. Janey, you can sit right down 'cause I can see that you don't know very much about him…. Who told you that John Brown was crazy? … No, he wasn't, he was a good man who wanted to do away with slavery! … All right, Jimmy, if you know a song about him, you may sing it…. Marge, do you hear that?—”John Brown's baby had a cold upon its chest, so they rubbed it with camphorated oil!” … Children, John Brown was hanged, they took his life 'cause he helped to take us out of slavery! We oughta know all about him and love him dearly for what he did.

Yes, Lincoln was a great man and signed those papers, but he didn't just up and set slaves free! There was all kinds of great fightin' goin' on about slavery before that happened. Did any of you ever hear about Nat Turner? … Lord, Marge, do you see what I see? … Not a one of these children has heard a word about him, can't a one of them raise their hand!

… Yes, bless your little hearts, I will tell you a few more things about Miss Tubman, and I'm sorry to lose patience so easy. It sure ain't your fault that you know nothin' at all 'bout these things.

One time when Harriet was in Troy, New York, she heard that the law was holdin' a man who was an escaped slave in the courthouse and plannin' to return him to his former master. Harriet called on all her friends in Troy, and they went down to the courthouse. Harriet got past the door guards by stoopin' over and walkin' like she was a decrepit old lady. When the officers started to lead the prisoner from the court, Harriet seized hold of him and called out to the crowd to help her and they did.

… Marshall! Get down off Miss Marge's couch, and stop pullin' on Janey's hair! … Stop playin' like she's the man I'm talkin' about, or I'll stop the story and you'll
never
know what happened! That's better!

Well, that crowd got into the biggest fight and Harriet kept hold of that man while her friends beat off the people who were tryin' to take him away…. Children, if you scream one more time! … Yes, they got him and put him in a wagon and drove him straight into Canada, where he was as free as a bird! … Oh, excuse me, was I hollerin', too? …

Yes, Janey, I guess you could say that she was like Joan of Arc. She did serve in the Civil War…. Sure, she was a soldier. She always worked in the Union Blue and was never without her rifle.

… Jimmy, please do not pinch the other children because I'm now near the end of the story, and you will only have to sit still for a short spell longer.

When Harriet was old and her work was almost over a lot of people showed respect and paid honor to her. Queen Victoria sent her a medal, a silk shawl and a letter invitin' her to come to Great Britain because everybody there had such admiration for her. But she was too tired and old to go anywhere by the time she got it. Sad to relate, she spent her last, remainin' years in poverty and want. One day she told somebody, “I liked apples when I was young and I said to myself: ‘Someday I'll plant apples myself for other young folks to eat'; and I guess I did.”

Now do you children know what she meant by that? … You are right, Jimmy…. She did mean that she had done things to make our lives better….

What? … Why, of course, Mabel, you speak right up and say whatever is on your mind…. Well, thank you, I'm glad to know that you
believe
me…. How many of you would like to hear some more true stories some other time? … No, no, I can't tell any more today, but it's nice to know that you're all so earnest about it…. No, Barbara, I don't think you should change your name to Harriet, but you could read and study some about her when you go to the library 'cause you will find her name in some of those books even though she's left out of the schoolbook….

Marge, ain't this enough to break your heart! … Of course, Marshall, there were great
men
, too, a lot of them, and next time I'll tell you about Frederick Douglas who was braver than brave…. That's right, Sylvia, he was true to life also…. Well, you just go right ahead and
ask
your teacher why he isn't in your book, and if she tells you that he never happened, you come to me and I promise you this: I'll go to school with this book and prove it to her and the whole class and also the principal, if need be! … Sure, we got a grand history!

Now, children, you will kindly pick up all the popcorn off the rug, wipe all sticky hands and then thank Miss Marge for havin' us in her house. Now, all together with Mildred, say, “Thank you, Miss Marge!” … You're welcome, Jimmy, the ice cream and cake wasn't so much. Aunt Mildred wishes she could give you a whole lot more 'cause you youngsters are starved in more ways than one….

O
H WELL
, it's all very fine for us grown-ups to worry and fret all kinds of ways about this desegregation business, but I wonder what it feels like to be a little child goin' to school and gettin' right into the thick of things as it were.

Marge, can you imagine a little seven-year-old colored child goin' off to his first day at a school that's just turnin' democratic? It's so hard to explain everything to the little ones so's they will really understand what's goin' on. They must feel all the uneasiness that's in the air and what with the parents bein' worried and cautionin' them about bein' careful and not walkin' down certain streets and comin' directly home and things like that, their little hearts must be awful burdened and put upon.

Is there any grown person that can put themselves in that child's place without feelin' angry and ashamed that this can be done to children? What does it do to a child when he sees adults throwin' things at him and jeerin' at him? How does it feel to walk in a classroom and have no one say a kind word? What does it feel like to sit in the back of the room all by yourself and try to study your lessons? What does it feel like to eat your lunch all alone and off to one side?

What does it feel like to have to run part of the way home in order not to be beat up or even maybe killed? What does it feel like to have to wait for your mama or papa to call for you and take you home by the long, round-about way? Don't you think these children are wonderin' and thinkin' some big, solemn thoughts?

… Sure, I know there's people who try to give this as the excuse not to have the schools mixed, but I don't go along with that at all, and it seems that you can say the same thing for the children. These brave little people take their lives in hand and walk the pathways leadin' to the schools all over the country. They want to learn, and they don't want to keep goin' to school buildin's that get a second place break on the money deal!

Oh, Marge, we got a lot to feel proud about! I wouldn't take anything for livin' right now in this day and time! I'm glad to my heart to see these brave children marchin' to the schools throughout the land, claimin' their rights and plowin' ahead in the face of mobs and threats and all manner of ugliness. These colored boys and girls got their hands stretched out in friendship to the white boys and girls in this land. And you know one thing? They're gonna clasp hands and walk together and get along and learn from each other and be peaceful and enjoy life in spite of these grown-ups tryin' to spread malice and hate. And one of these days this land is gonna be truly beautiful. Yes mam, every square inch of it!