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"Then I'll Be Free To
Travel Home"
Radio Series: Distributed by
PRI
Program
Description
In 13 one-hour programs,
THEN I'LL BE FREE TO TRAVEL HOME traces the
historical arc of the long African-American battle
against northern slavery and for full, first-class
citizenship. It chronicles the contributions the
original Africans who founded the New York African
Burial Ground - and their descendants - made to the
survival and development of New York and the nation
from the 1600s to the New York City Draft Riots of
1863. It is also a history of larger-than-life
"freedom fighters" on many levels and of many races,
who challenged slavery to change the course of this
nation from it's earliest Colonial days. It's
historical arc will be capped with a modern "coda"
(1992 2003) that illustrates and highlights the
parallels of those historical contributions, issues
and battles, with their modern echoes and
counterparts in the present struggle to preserve and
honor the site where those early Africans were and are
buried.
1. "THEN I'LL BE FREE TO TRAVEL
HOME": PREVIEW/OVERVIEW:
(1626-1863).
Traces the historical arc
of the long African-American battle against northern
slavery and for full, first-class citizenship. It
chronicles the contributions the original Africans
who founded the New York African Burial ground - and
their descendants - made to the survival and
development of New York and the nation from the 1600s
to the New York City Draft Riots of 1863. It is also
a history of larger-than-life "freedom fighters" on
many levels and of many races, who challenged slavery
to change the course of this nation from it's
earliest Colonial days. This is that story as it
unfolded in the northeastern part of what would
eventually become the United States of
America.
2. PREQUEL: EARLY CONTACTS - JUAN
"JAN" RODRIGUES, THE FIRST FREE AFRICAN IN THE HUDSON
VALLEY (1612-1614).
Before slavery rears its
ugly head in North America, Africans and people of
African descent traverse the northeastern part of the
continent as free entrepreneurs - traders, guides and
interpreters; men such as Matthieu Da Costa, and
"Jan" Rodrigues. Who they were - especially Rodrigues
- how they interacted with the Europeans and Native
Americans, their value and impact, is the heart of
Segment #2, and aptly sets the stage for the next
segment.
3. SURVIVAL: ELEVEN AFRICANS AND THE
SURVIVAL OF THE NEW NETHERLANDS COLONY
(1624-1664).
The New Netherlands Colony
is founded by the Dutch West India Company as a
profit-making venture in 1624. The original Dutch
Settlers are unhappy, huddled at the lower end of the
most southerly of the two Manahatta Islands. They
want to trap and collect furs, get rich quick and
return home. The Colony is not prospering. Eleven
Africans are brought to the Colony and put to work
for the Dutch West India Company. The Colony's
fortune improves. How these Africans survive, grow,
prosper and significantly contribute to the survival,
economic development and prosperity of New
Netherlands is the heart of Segment #3.
4. ALMOST FREE: SUSSANA ANTHONY
ROBERTS, SOLOMON PIETERS, AND THE PUSH FOR PERSONAL
AND ECONOMIC FREEDOM (1664-1712).
By 1664 the African
population in New Netherlands has significantly
increased. The "Original Eleven" and their children
are not only property owners, but one
second-generation member is a renowned Barber-Surgeon
(i.e. Medical Practitioner), one is a business-woman
entrepreneur with multiple property holdings, and
they have had access to educational opportunities
provided by their Dutch owner-employers. They can
also earn or buy their freedom. All this changes with
the British takeover in August of 1664. This is the
core of Segment #4.
5. EARLY SLAVE RESISTANCE: NEW
ENGLAND/NEW YORK 1712, ETC.
The prevalent, accepted
myth is that enslaved Africans in North America
pretty much docilely accepted their enslavement. The
evidence is quite to the contrary. The number of
revolts and runaways - especially in the north - are
early, and significant. (The NY Colonial Legislature
passed a law mandating the death penalty for any
slave found 40 miles north of Albany). Highlighting
that early struggle, and how it literally paved the
way for what would, almost a hundred years later,
come to be known as the Underground Railroad, makes
for an enlightening Segment #5.
6. THE STRUGGLE CONTINUES: MORE
REVOLTS, "CONSPIRACIES," AND RUNAWAYS
(1712-1775).
As the British campaign for
a global empire played out on the North American
Continent - Queen Anne's War, The French & Indian
Wars, and so on - the stage and stakes for revolts
and rebellions continued to increase for the enslaved
Africans and their Colonial enslavers. Even as the
Colonists edge and stumble towards their own
revolution, they grow more paranoid about a possible
Black Revolt amongst them. The so-called "Great Negro
Conspiracy of 1741" in the City of New York captures
it well, and is the cornerstone of Segment #6.
7. THE REBELLION WITHIN THE
REBELLION: HUDDY AND TYE
(1775-1783).
"There's a famous quote by
a Lutheran Priest, which says 'Everyone recognizes
that the Blacks favor the British. If the British
win, they will gain their freedom.'" (Prof. Graham
Hodges). The British promise that freedom
immediately, knowing they need the enslaved Africans
in order to defeat the rebellious Colonists. The
American Colonists' two-fold dilemma: how to
reconcile preaching/fighting for "liberty and justice
for all" while still trying to keep enslaved Africans
as property; and secondly, can they defeat the
British without the help of the Africans in their
midst? How it all plays out - as seen primarily
through the efforts/conflicts of two larger-than-life
antagonists (Huddy & Tye) and the subsequent
effects, make for a dynamic Segment #7.
8. SELF-DETERMINATION: THE RISE OF
THE BLACK CHURCH, THE BLACK PRESS AND THE FIGHT FOR
EDUCATION (1783-1830).
The war changes the entire
colonial social landscape. Once rigid class and
economic lines now blur, and the Colonists' fight for
freedom plants the seed for the eventual death of
slavery. Chafing at segregating discriminatory
practices, Blacks form their own institutions -
churches, schools, theaters, insurance and employment
agencies, literary societies, magazines and
newspapers - and with a number of white allies,
battle for education, economic progress and an end to
slavery. Segment #8 reflects it all.
9. SPLITS AND RIFTS: RUGGLES,
DOUGLASS AND THE RISE OF THE ABOLITIONIST AND BACK TO
AFRICA MOVEMENTS, & THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD
(1830-1854).
With a number of white
allies, the African-Americans press the cause of
abolition; they also form an aggressive nationalistic
"Black Convention Movement" strongly pushing the
cause of, their rights as, residents and citizens of
the United States of America. An opposition "Back to
Africa" movement also takes flight, advocating that
only in Africa will Blacks ever find true freedom,
true peace and a real home. All this abolitionism,
escape-to-freedom, and political ferment, is vividly
captured in Segment #9.
10. CATHERINE "KATIE" FERGUSON, THE
JENNINGS FAMILY, AND THE BATTLE FOR FULL FIRST-CLASS
CITIZENSHIP (1830-1854).
The standard sources of
the period chronicle well-known personalities,
usually male. Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth are
often mentioned, but many unsung others contribute
greatly to the struggle for freedom, dignity, and
full, first-class citizenship. Each church has its
African Dorcas Society aiding and succoring runaway
escapees. A young Sunday school teacher, Elizabeth
Jennings, is physically tossed from a public
transportation car for her challenge to the "whites
only" policy - later suing and, with Chester A.
Arthur as her Attorney, winning. Catherine "Katie"
Ferguson cares for the orphaned homeless. All this
and more comprise the heart and soul of Segment
#10.
11. SIGNS OF WAR: THE ABOLITIONIST
SPLIT: JOHN BROWN/FREDRICK DOUGLASS & HARPER'S
FERRY.
Frederick Douglass,
William Lloyd Garrison, the Tappan Brothers, and
other abolitionists, black and white, reach a
crossroads on just how militant the Abolitionist
Movement should be. On the high seas the British Navy
aggressively pursues and neutralizes practitioners of
the transatlantic slave trade, but despite national
and international bans, slave ships with their human
cargo still move in and out of North American ports
with relative impunity. With the passage of the
Fugitive Slave Law in (1850), John Brown determines
that time for talk is over. He tries to enlist
Frederick Douglass as an active participant in his
planned raid. Douglass declines, and tries,
unsuccessfully, to dissuade Brown. All this and more
is captured in Segment #11.
12. LINCOLN'S DILEMMA: SAVING THE
UNION OR FREEING THE SLAVES? (THE NY CITY DRAFT RIOTS
& THE BATTLE OF FT. WAGNER - JULY
1863).
When the dissident
southern states issued their Ordinance of Secession
to break from the Union, there was no mention of
States Rights, or Tariffs or any of the other
so-called key economic reasons for the breakaway. Of
the ten reasons cited, eight of them dealt
specifically with slavery. (For plantation owners
that was the dominant economic issue). Lincoln was
elected with a minority of the popular vote; his main
concern was preserving the Union. Many of his war
policies were highly unpopular - not just in the
South, but even in New York - whose
mercantile-and-maritime economy was strongly tied to
the southern plantation owners and their crops. The
Emancipation Proclamation only attempted to free
slaves in the rebel Confederacy, not the
non-seceeding Border States. But, when coupled with
the Conscription Act of 1863 (first ever national
Draft) it still made for some very unhappy
individuals, north and south. How all these
political, war-time issues unfold and play out
nationally and locally (as exemplified by the NY City
Draft Riots and Battle for Ft. Wagner) makes for an
informative and fascinating Segment #12.
13. THE BATTLE TO PRESERVE AND HONOR
THE NEW YORK AFRICAN BURIAL
GROUND.
Trying to start
construction in 1992 on a major archaeological
discovery-site, not only violated federal guidelines;
it also dishonored and disrespected a large segment
of the community. "The mother of all controversies"
naturally ensued. It continues to this day. The
bodies removed from the Burial Ground for scientific
research were originally scheduled to be returned and
re-interred at the Burial Ground in 1999. They were
finally returned in October 2003. The concluding
segment of the series will chronicle how, in a
classic David-Goliath struggle of civic activism, a
grassroots coalition of people of all races battled
the Federal bureaucracy to rescue and preserve a
sacred, now historical Landmark. It will document the
current status of this preservation-memorialization
struggle. It will fittingly draw the parallels
between the long, historic struggle for freedom,
dignity, and full first-class citizenship, with the
current battle to properly preserve, honor and
memorialize this major, quite sacred, archaeological
discovery. It will also highlight how that New York
struggle also inspired other grassroots
preservationists to take-up and champion their own
local causes.
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