I was struck by the description of the 1833 “Blackburn Riots” that occurred in Detroit, and led to Thornton Blackburn’s freedom. That may be because I was born in Detroit, and know the streets, places, and some of the personalities directly or by repute – and this book changed how I see the city of my birth.
The vivid, detailed description of concubinage and the slave system in this book, was an eye-opener, at least to me. When African American men father children out side of marriage, and walk away from them, those men are still acting out the culture of slavery. When African American women accept such disrespectful and irresponsible behavior, those African American women are continuing a culture of concubinage.
Thornton and Lucie Blackburn fled a republic without freedom or liberty for them in order to uphold marriage and escape concubinage.
For the African American community in the United States to be truly free will mean breaking the bonds of slavery by no longer behaving like slaves.
Free men and women treat one another with respect, and do not engage in concubinage. The children of free men and women receive the care and support of two responsible parents. For today’s African Americans to fully break the cultural bonds forged by slavery, a culture of personal responsibility, self discipline, industriousness and frugality as demonstrated by the life stories of Thornton and Lucie Blackburn must be forged.
Freedom is NOT free.
In fact, it is personal responsibility that leads to freedom; ask those who are chained to credit card debt, and facing foreclosure. Debt limits options and chains the debtor; so does irresponsibility. The story of Thornton and Lucie Blackburn as deeply and clearly documented by Glory Land was a real eye-opener.
ignore the human stories behind abstract political issues. There are a lot of dimensions to what we consider “Freedom” . Like other ideal concepts it can be used selectively. The individual struggles with freedom that I see most often are: the struggle with institutionalization/shelter vs freedom to be on streets or freedom to take drugs vs being a slave to drugs.
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p>I am tapped out (time-wise) for books to read anytime soon but will put this on the list for the next book buy.