Freewater - Amina Luqman-Dawson
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Element 3: Issues of Social Injustice
Grade Level: Middle Grade (6-8)
Summary: In striking detail and accessible prose, Amina Luqman-Dawson's Freewater tells the story of Homer and Ada as they escape life as enslaved children on a plantation in search of freedom in the north. In their journey, they come upon Freewater, a settlement founded and populated by formerly enslaved people. Here they learn how this community of color resists the oppressive forces of slavery to imagine and create their own futures. A book equally fraught with the horrors of American slavery, and the histories of possibility and resistance, Freewater tells the story of American slavery and resistance through the eyes of young people as it's never been told before.
Element 3: Much of Freewater deals with the losses and struggles suffered by Homer and Ada both on the planation as enslaved people, and after their escape. The book illustrates the horrors of chattel slavery and the enormous sacrifices and risks undertaken by those who escapeed. Ada and Homer are forced to leave their mother behind and enter a frontier completely alien to them where their very existence is plagued by the fear of capture and re-enslavement and the traumas of family separation. The book directly addresses the historical roots of oppression while examining how different identities--men, women, old and young--experienced this oppression differently. The book also serves as a transitional text between Elements 3 and 4 for its exploration of early resistance efforts which might allow readers to link subsequent Black liberation movements with their historical origins.
How I Would Use The Book: What I love about this book is the way it allows us to reimagine the history of racism in America. Telling the horrific story of slavery is incredibly important: it is one of two foundational genocides at the heart of American history whose legacy and impact cannot be overstated. But Freewater allows us to view this time period not just as a time of oppression but also as the beginning of social and political resistance efforts, community organizing, and Black meaning-making. In this way I would like to use the text to ask students how we might be critical about the popular narratives surrounding racial justice and injustice in America. We are often told in school that several important social movements have all but eliminated racism--the emancipation proclamation, Reconstruction, Civil Rights movement, and the election of Barack Obama. Freewater is a text which offers a way of understanding racism as a historical continuum which has always existed, but has always existed alongside Black social and political resistance. Activities might include critically responding to, discussing, and reflecting on how their experience of reading the book allows for a better understanding of oppression and slavery. They may also reflect on how the book sheds light on aspects of historical injustice that are represented more graphically/honestly in Freewater than in other historical or fictional texts.
Other Notes: I think reading contemporary black authors who write about the legacy of slavery is extraordinarily important for young people. When a text has been written recently it inherently communicates a sense of importance for students. It also allows for a richer understanding of how the past and present are linked and inextricably connected to one another. It's a text that speaks to events hundreds of years ago but it has import on the world around them. It also supports authors of color who are doing the incredible work of shedding light on emancipatory histories and ideas as well as historic injustices.
