We have been exploring these powerful books and personalities that have been instrumental in shaping black history. The true stories and journey’s outline the history and struggle throughout the days of slavery when HOPE was a seed waiting to be planted.

We listened to Martin Luther King’s speech, “I have a Dream” and discussed how the struggle for justice is still so real in many parts of the world.

Henry’s Freedom Box is also a true story of a slave who makes a harrowing journey in a wooden crate- and mails himself to freedom.

To note:

-In the 1800s, there were about 4 million slaves living in the United States

-60 000 to 100 000 slaves escape to freedom , travelling on what was called the Underground Railroad

-the Underground Railroad wasn’t a real railroad. It was all the secret ways slaves made their way from the South to the North

-When Henry Brown climbed into the Freedom Box, he hoped he’d be carried to a safe world. He travelled 350 miles fron Richmond, Virginia in  27 hours. His destination was Philadelphia. He carried a small tool which allowed him to make a tiny hole. He also had some biscuits which he ate.  (source: Ellen levine and Kadir Nelson)- authors of “Henry’s Freedom Box.’