Abner
Black man, early 20's. Energetic and driven. A bit stubborn but strong-willed. A runaway slave and solider for the Union. Brother of Sara. Loves his sister fiercely.
Black Soldiers in the U.S. Military During the Civil War
The issues of emancipation and military service were intertwined from the onset of the Civil War. News from Fort Sumter set off a rush by free black men to enlist in U.S. military units. They were turned away, however, because a Federal law dating from 1792 barred Negroes from bearing arms for the U.S. army (although they had served in the American Revolution and in the War of 1812). In Boston disappointed would-be volunteers met and passed a resolution requesting that the Government modify its laws to permit their enlistment.
-The National Archives
John Brown
from The National Museum of American History
In the mid-1850s, abolitionist John Brown went to Kansas Territory to fight against the spread of slavery. Then in 1859, he came east to Virginia, hoping to liberate slaves. On October 16, he and a small group of militants seized the federal armory in Harper’s Ferry and its weapons, but waited in vain for the uprising they hoped would follow. The next day, U.S. Army officers Robert E. Lee and J. E. B. Stuart brought in a company of marines and stormed the fire-engine house where Brown had retreated. They captured him and his band, and killed two of his sons. Brown was hanged, along with six other conspirators. In death he became a martyr for abolitionists. “I am worth inconceivably more to hang,” he said, “than for any other purpose.”
I, Too
by LANGSTON HUGHES
I, too, sing America.
I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.
Tomorrow,
I’ll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody’ll dare
Say to me,
“Eat in the kitchen,”
Then.
Besides,
They’ll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed—
I, too, am America.
-from The Collected Works of Langston Hughes.
Why ‘Glory’ Still Resonates More Than Three Decades Later
"When Glory was first released in 1989, it challenged a deeply entrenched popular memory of the war that centered the conflict around brave white soldiers and left little room to grapple with the tough questions of slavery and emancipation. The film’s most important contribution is its success in challenging this narrow interpretation by reminding white Americans of the service of roughly 200,000 Black Americans in Union ranks and their role in helping to win the war and end slavery."
-Levin
Private Gordon
A former enslaved man who fought for the Union, showing the scars on his back.
Abner & Sara
S2/P4
ABNER
Let ‘em’. I’m proud.
SARA
Gon’ be proud and dead.
She sticks the needle into his abdomen and stitches. ABNER hisses from pain.
SARA
Need to bite a pillow? I got a satchel of feathers over there.
ABNER
I’m fine. I’m a man. I’m a soldier. I’m fine.
SARA
Stop calling yourself that. Be proud and quiet.
Historical Context: Black Soldiers in the Civil War
by Steven Mintz
By early 1863, voluntary enlistments in the Union army had fallen so sharply that the federal government instituted an unpopular military draft and decided to enroll black, as well as white, troops. Indeed, it seems likely that it was the availability of large numbers of African American soldiers that allowed President Lincoln to resist demands for a negotiated peace that might have including the retention of slavery in the United States. Altogether, 186,000 black soldiers served in the Union Army and another 29,000 served in the Navy, accounting for nearly 10 percent of all Union forces and 68,178 of the Union dead or missing. Twenty-four African Americans received the Congressional Medal of Honor for extraordinary bravery in battle.
40 Years Ago: Richard Pryor Perfects Stand-Up on ‘Live on the Sunset Strip’
by Dennis Perkins
Even if we know that this Pryor wasn’t telling us the whole truth about the night that almost killed him, Live on the Sunset Strip stands as a monument to one of the most volatile and brilliant comic performers who ever lived. It’s Pryor captured, blessedly, at his apex.
-Perkins
Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation
History Channel
On September 22, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, which declared that as of January 1, 1863, all enslaved people in the states currently engaged in rebellion against the Union “shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.”
