If He Can, We Can
If he can, we can
A few years ago I learned I had, as a legacy, one of the slave narratives from the survivors born into slavery. As I prepared to read about his experience I really didn’t know what to expect. What I read in my great-great grandfather's interview about his life formerly enslaved and as a free man, has impacted me more profoundly than I ever imagined. Through research and revelation I now realize that I not only inherited his resilience, but also his ability to keep open heart in spite of circumstances and his spirit of entrepreneurship.
“My name is John W. Fields and I’m eighty-nine (89) years old. I was born March 27, 1848 in Owensburg, Ky. That’s 115 miles below Louisville, Ky. There was 11 other children besides myself in my family. When I was six years old, all of us children were taken from my parents, because my master died and his estate had to be settled.”
“I can’t describe the heartbreak and horror of that separation. I was only six years old and it was the last time I ever saw my mother for longer than one night. Twelve children taken from my mother in one day. Five sisters and two brothers went to Charleston, Virginia, one brother and one sister went to Lexington Ky., one sister went to Hartford, Ky., and one brother and myself stayed in Owensburg, Ky. ”
“When my master’s estate had been settled, I was to go with widow’s relative to her place, she swung me up on her horse behind her and promised me all manner of sweet things if I would come peacefully. I didn’t fully realize what was happening, and before I knew it, I was on my way to my new home. Upon arrival her manner changed, and she took me down to where there was a bunch of men burning brush. At the age of six I started my life as an independent slave.”