Freedom Over Me
Author: Ashley Bryan
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Illustrator: Ann Bobco
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Date: 2016
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About the book:
In the 1800's, slaves were always treated as property. Bryan decided to make these "pieces of property" into the human beings they actually were. He creates 11 different unique stories about 11 different slaves from the same plantation. The intertwined stories allows the reader to walk into what life was like for these people. Their original "slave" labels and their dreamer selves.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
"Under slavery in the United States, Negro people were not considered human beings. They were the owner's property. My art and writing of this story aim to bring the slaves live as human beings."
- Ashley Bryan's Authors Note
Ashley Bryan did a lovely job of making a simple Appraisement of Property document into 11 lost stories. With each story, he would introduce a person with their name in a standard font. He would tell the story of the person in a first person narrative about who they were, what they did for the owners, the Fairchild's, and how they wished for freedom one day. The portrait of the person would always include how much they cost, their name, and how old they were. This was the information that was usually used to explain a slave, not their personal traits and who they were as a human being. The next page would change into a cursive font to talk about the person's dreams. In this section, they would usually mention their African heritage, what they really wanted to do with their talents, and their hope and praying for freedom. Here is an example of Peggy.
Peggy was the Fairchild's cook. She talks about how she is free to walk around the plantation to find plants and spices to create various meals, yet she doesn't feel free after everything she has gone through. She talks about her African roots and how people around her died because of white slavers.
"Frightened by voices shouting in no tribal language we knew, stripped of everything, our language, our customs, they even took our names. They called me Peggy. Peggy!"
Peggy's real name is Mariama, meaning "Gift of God." She uses her knowledge of herbs to help everyone around her. She doesn't just use it for leftovers for other slaves on the plantation, but she also uses it as medicines. She is a healer.
"Mrs. Fairchild's dinner guests praise my cooking. The praise, however, that touches my heart is to hear the slaves call me Herb Doctor."
That's who Mariama truly was.
Even though we will never know what the real stories are of these 11 powerful people, Bryan was able to open us into a new world. He created a real person based off of an age, gender, and name. He made them into the people they always were. When teaching students about racism in history, we need students to understand that during this time, the people's voices were silenced. It is our job as teachers, or even authors, to give the people a voice. The use of "I Am" or Persona Poetry after reading books about marginalized groups is a great way for students to enter a "sliding glass door," according to Rudine Sims Bishop (Bishop, 2015). Readers are able to get a glimpse of what life was like for a character not like themself.
Creating a Persona Poem
When students are able to write persona poems, they are able to not only deepen their understanding of historical events, but they are also improving on literary understandings (Frye, 2013). It is so easy to read a historical fiction book and not really think of the characters as real life people. Even though the stories Bryan wrote in Freedom Over Me might not be accurate, it is still historically correct for the time. Even though the person's name was not Bacus, there were many slaves who were blacksmiths who dreaded the day that they had to go the block to be sold and separated from their family. We need to provide students the opportunity to give them a window to look into what life was really like for a black person in the 1800's. They are known in history just be a name on a document based on what life was like back then, but in reality, there were very talented and driven people. They were taken from their land, their culture, and their life. When students view this reality deeply, they may be able to relate to what a character may be feeling. When students look deeper into character traits and emotions, character's past experiences, goals and desires, worries and problems, they can truly understand historical contexts that Bryan is trying to create (Frye, 2018). "When we teach students how to imagine a different reality, they may perceive what is lacking, reaches beyond the present, stand up for justice, and initiate change" (Frye, 2013). That quote reflects our big goal for introducing books with marginalized group focus to our students. One of the many ways to reach this goal is to create a persona poem.
Steps on What to Do:
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Read a Historical Fiction or Fantasy book.
Here are some good choices:
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Crack in the Sea by Heather M. Bouwman
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Freedom Over Me by Ashley Bryan
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Wishtree by Katherine Applegate
Here are some questions you need to ask yourself:
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How would you define this character's character traits and emotions?
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What is the character's past experience and how does it shape them to who they are today?
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What are the character's goals, wants, and desires? Is there anything the character needs to resolve or improve?
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What are the character's worries or concerns and how do they try to solve them? What keeps this character awake at night?
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What questions does this character have? What questions do you still have about your character?
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Focus on a Relatable Character
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3.
Students Create Their Own I Am Poem
Through modeling and guided practice, students will create their own form of I Am Poem/ persona poem based on a character of their choosing. They will follow a template provided by the teacher. Students will fill in the blanks of the poem with important historical information and thoughtful details. Here are a few options of templates that can be used:
In order to give the poem a voice, all students will participate in making one large poem that reflects the life of one of the characters in a reading. People have different view points of different ways of phrasing information. With the best two lines from each student, the poem will be even more powerful. The student will be recognized for their work by having their name placed beside their lines on the poem. Students will then be able to create some sort of artwork to reflect their chosen lines. This will then be created into a collage to have two mediums of the poem.
Teacher will Choose Best Two Lines from Each Student to Create Large Class Poem
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My Example:
For my example of an I Am Poem, I will be entering the world of Pip from A Crack in the Sea. He is someone who was put into a leadership position even though he has always been the quiet character who kept to himself. He was able to grow and become a better person when put into a complicated situation. His powers are sometimes his weakness, but they mainly give him the confidence he needs to become the leader.
Diversity Text Set
Freedom Over Me is all about lost stories being created into something new. Most times, it feels as if during the time of slavery, the self identity of slave's backgrounds were taken away. As Bryan constantly stated in his story, people were trying to reminisce during the time they were back in Africa. They were able to use some of their skills that they had learned back in their homeland, but it was for a different purpose. Freedom in Congo Square is a wonderful book with a contradicting message. In New Orleans, Congo Square was a place that slaves looked forward to for a few hours on Sundays. They were able to take a break from the pain and celebrate their past through music, dancing, and other traditions. People were able to speak in their native language and teach their traditions to people from all over. This is not a lost story. This is a story that is still relevant today. Congo Square is still one of the most popular places to visit in the world. Not only was it a place for slaves, but it was also the place where jazz was created. Carole Boston Weatherford includes some very important information in the Foreword and Authors Note which makes the story even more meaningful.
Why Should These Books Be Paired Together?
Most times when we talk about slavery, we show the awful images of the cruel punishments that occurred during the time. We talk about how awful it was and how they tried to escape from this awful environment. It's a touchy subject, therefore teachers usually try to avoid discussion. What students don't realize is that not being able to discuss this topic is more harmful than actually talking about it (Gardner, 2017). We are damaging students because they are seeing part of their family story that is empty and hurtful. When students see images, they usually find themselves witnessing what is happening in the photo. Roberta Price Gardner asks, "what did our teachers expect us to gain from the exposure?"
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That's why Freedom Over Me and Congo Square are such beautiful books because it doesn't show the ugly. It's not hiding the truth, but it is showing the strength and human like qualities that needs to be shown while talking about this topic. Angela is a 3rd grade teacher who has the right idea on how to start a great conversation (Gardner, 2017). She constantly displays culturally diverse books for their library in order to start critical conversations, she is allowing for discussion on images, and maintaining an open classroom. We can learn from Angela on how to read books with culturally diverse backgrounds by integrating various types of discussions about racial trauma using visual thinking strategies. Art and storytelling is an easy way to discuss a difficult topic. You can use Freedom Over Me and Congo Square's stories and images to talk about what life was really like for these people in the stories. It can introduce students to either a mirror, window, or sliding glass door.
Resources
Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Doors. (2015). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AAu58SNSyc&list=PLLxDwKxHx1yLH9i0wFT21xxYSSMjS4KGi&index=5
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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.
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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.
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Gardner, R. P. (2017). Discussing Racial Trauma Using Visual Thinking Strategies. Language Arts, 94(5), 338–345.