Black History

Harriet Jacobs: A Beacon of Resistance Against the Darkness of Slavery

Within the fabric of American history, certain narratives rise above the rest, illuminating the darkest corners of our past while shedding light on the indomitable spirit of humanity. Among these luminous stories stands the remarkable tale of Harriet Jacobs, a woman whose life’s journey from bondage to freedom remains an enduring testament to the power of resilience and unwavering determination.

Published

8 months ago

October 10, 2023

Oakland Post

Harriet Jacobs. Public domain image by Adam Cuerden - Journal of the Civil War Era.

By Tamara Shiloh

Within the fabric of American history, certain narratives rise above the rest, illuminating the darkest corners of our past while shedding light on the indomitable spirit of humanity.

Among these luminous stories stands the remarkable tale of Harriet Jacobs, a woman whose life’s journey from bondage to freedom remains an enduring testament to the power of resilience and unwavering determination.

Born into slavery in Edenton, N.C., in 1813, Jacobs was destined to confront the harsh realities of an institution that dehumanized and oppressed millions. Her autobiography, “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl,” transcends mere words on paper, offering an intimate window into her world and the injustices she endured.

From her earliest years, Jacobs navigated a labyrinth of pain and injustice. Separated from her parents and raised under the watchful eye of a relatively compassionate mistress, she was afforded a rare opportunity: an education. For an enslaved person, the ability to read and write was not only a forbidden skill but also a potential lifeline to liberation. Harriet seized this opportunity, laying the foundation for her later acts of defiance.

Yet, her fate took a darker turn when Dr. James Norcom, her owner, turned into a tormentor. His relentless advances and threats forced Harriet to make a harrowing decision. In a remarkable act of courage, she chose to disappear into the confines of a small attic crawlspace for nearly seven years. In this stifling and claustrophobic hiding place, she documented her experiences, using her newfound literary skills to pen her life story.

Jacobs’ narrative stands apart because it exposes not only the brutality of slavery but also the unique suffering endured by enslaved women. Her account sheds light on the pervasive sexual exploitation they faced, and the unimaginable challenges confronted by enslaved mothers who sought to protect their children from the same fate. Through her words, she unmasked the vulnerabilities and resilience of enslaved women.

Jacobs eventually found her way to freedom in the North, but her battle was far from over. She transitioned from enslaved woman to abolitionist, standing shoulder to shoulder with prominent figures such as Frederick Douglass and Harriet Beecher Stowe. Her tireless efforts included lecturing, penning articles, and raising funds to support the abolitionist cause.

The legacy of Harriet Jacobs endures as a vital part of American history and the ongoing fight for racial justice. Her autobiography continues to resonate today, offering an unvarnished perspective on the horrors of slavery and the enduring strength of the human spirit.

In the end, Harriet Jacobs’ life is a testament to unwavering courage, an unbroken spirit that defied the chains of oppression. Her story serves as a powerful reminder that, even in the darkest of times, the human spirit can transcend adversity. Harriet Jacobs, a true American hero, blazed a trail toward freedom and justice that still guides us today, challenging us to confront the injustices of the past and work toward a more equitable future.

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Black History

Book Review: ‘The Jazzmen: How Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, and Count Basie Transformed America’

Your toes didn’t wait long before they started tapping. They knew what was coming, almost as soon as the band was seated. They knew before the first notes were played and the hep cats and jazz babies hit the floor to cut a rug. Daddy, it was the bee’s knees but in the new book “The Jazzmen” by Larry Tye, if you were the Sheik on the stage, makin’ cabbage wasn’t all that swank.

Published

6 days ago

May 17, 2024

Oakland Post

Courtesy of Lisa Frusztajer

By Terri Schlichenmeyer

Your toes didn’t wait long before they started tapping.

They knew what was coming, almost as soon as the band was seated. They knew before the first notes were played and the hep cats and jazz babies hit the floor to cut a rug. Daddy, it was the bee’s knees but in the new book “The Jazzmen” by Larry Tye, if you were the Sheik on the stage, makin’ cabbage wasn’t all that swank.

Louis Armstrong was born in 1900 or thereabouts in a “four-room frame house on an unpaved lane” in a section of New Orleans called “Back o’Town … the Blackest, swampiest, and most impoverished” area of the city. His mother was a “chippie,” and the boy grew up running barefoot and wild, the latter of which led to trouble. At age twelve, Armstrong was sent to the Colored Waif’s Home for recalcitrant Black boys, and that changed his life. At the “home,” he found mentors, father-figures and love, and he discovered music.

For years, Bill “Count” Basie insisted that he’d grown up with “no-drama, no-mystery, and nobody’s business but his,” but the truth was “sanitized.” He hated school and dropped out in junior high, hoping to join the circus. Instead, he landed a job working in a “moving-picture theater” as a general worker. When the theater’s piano player didn’t come to work one day, Basie volunteered to sit in. He ultimately realized that “I had to get out … of Red Bank [New Jersey], and music was my ticket.”

Even as a young teenager, Edward Ellington insisted that he be treated like a superstar. By then, his friends had nicknamed him “Duke,” for his insistence on dressing elegantly and acting like he was royalty. And he surely was — to his mother, and to millions of swooning female fans later in his life.

Three men, born at roughly the same time, had more in common than their ages. Two of them had mothers “who doted” on them. All three were perform-aholics. And, for all three, “Race … fell away as America listened.”

Feel up to a time-trip back a century or more? You won’t even have to leave your seat, just grab “The Jazzmen” and hang on.

In his introduction, author Larry Tye explains why he so badly wanted to tell the story of these three giants of music and how Basie’s, Ellington’s, and Armstrong’s lives intersected and diverged as all three were near-simultaneously performing for audiences world-wide. Their stories fascinated him, and his excitement runs strong in this book. Among other allures, readers used to today’s star-powered gossip will enjoy learning about an almost-forgotten time when performers took the country by storm by bootstrapping without a retinue of dozens.

And the racism the three performers encountered disappeared like magic sometimes, and that’s a good tale all by itself.

This is a musician’s dream book, but it’s also a must-read story if you’ve never heard of Basie, Ellington, or Armstrong. “The Jazzmen” may send you searching your music library, so make note.