Saturday, June 4, 2011

All Different Kinds of Free by Jessica McCann

All Different Kinds of Free is the story of a free black woman, Margaret Morgan, and her fight against slavery even as she was kidnapped as a runaway slave and sold into slavery. Even though this book is historical fiction, Margaret Morgan was a real person. She was the impetus for the case Prigg v. State of Pennsylvania. This Supreme Court case was the first time the federal government publicly made a pro-slavery declaration. This ruling further served to inflame both sides of the slavery and state's rights issues that eventually led to the Civil War.

Little is known about the real Margaret except that she was indeed a free black woman who was kidnapped, along with her children, by bounty hunter Ed Prigg who was working for her former employer. For the next 6 years Margaret lived a life of physical abuse, rape, degradation, starvation, hard labor, and desparation.  Even though this book tells Margaret's story, she actually represents what was happening to the entire slave population in the United States. It is hard to understand how we as a nation could have treated this segment of our society as we did.

This book reads as a novel (which it is) and a sort of biography of a brave woman. The content is sometimes difficult to read because of the nature of the story. You will shake your head and think "this can't be true. Surly we didn't treat people this way." But in fact we did. Sometimes we still do and that's what makes books like this so important. We must remember past bigotry and racism so that we can fight to make sure they do not continue.

1 comment:

  1. I think you might enjoy The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. It's another novel/biography as you write about above.

    Some of it is a little heavy on science, but basically the book is about Mrs. Lacks and her family. You'll think about the ethics of medical research, and wonder how this continues to happen now.

    Fun blog, Norma. Hope all is well with you down in paradise!

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