April 1, 1860,Some white guy bought me today. Right away, he put me to work, along with all of these other slaves. Picking cotton is such hard work. First, I water the ones that aren't ready to be picked. Second, I have to pick those cotton pods. Next, I picked the things in the pods. My "master" also made me carry water over long distances and cut wood after I got back. This is torture!
April 2, 1860,I found out I lived in a dump. The log cabin that my "master" gave me was horrible! It was way too crowded and we had to sleep on pokey haystacks. I made some friends because they were also working for my "master. " At least I never got hungry, because my "master" wanted me to stay healthy for work. We slaves wore rough pieces of cloth. It was very uncomfortable and smelly, because it was never washed.
April 3, 1860,As I was working the fields, I wondered where they were taking this slave. He seemed guilty of something, but what can it be? After a while, I heard the cracking of a whip. That slave was letting out his anger and pain like he was going insane! This torture of us is unbearable! They can't just whip, beat, or brand us just because we are black! The whites think they are so fancy and powerful that they could do anything they want. Well, their power is showing. I don't want to end up like that slave who was just whipped.
April 5, 1860,I was sleeping, when I overheard some slaves talking in a hushed tone. It seemed like they were planning something. The next day, a group of about five slaves were all gathered around in a circle. The next thing I know, they are running wildly trying to wreck everything in sight. Some whites used whips to stop them, and some used guns. My "master" saw me and told me to stop daydreaming and get back to work. He shoved me hard with his hands. I really didn't want to end up like those five.
April 6, 1860,I went to a slave "family" house today. They told me that families did not exist in slave life. I asked how the parents got married, and they said they weren't officially married. Then I asked how they were together, and they responded with "We jumped over a broom." At first, I was confused. Then they explained it all that slaves had to create their own type of marriage, such as jumping over a broom. The mother said "The worst thing that would happen to me is if my young'uns were sold to some other white." I agree.
April 7, 1860,Some days I had fun while working. On Saturday, we would socialize while working. We would have contests like how much crops we could harvest in five minutes. Some of the slave women would create quilts for a quilting bee. The quilts would also be used for blankets at night. After the women finished their bee, the men would join and be singing and dancing. On Sunday, we would go to churches and have fun hunting, fishing, dancing, singing, drinking, and socializing! This was the only time when we had fun.
April 8, 1860,My "master" told me to go to church every Sunday, but I didn't. We slaves would have our own little church session. We had to keep it a secret because the whites wouldn't let us. Instead of that useless Christian junk, we talked about our hero, Moses. We told stories and folktales about him at our "invisible church." We also sang spirituals and preached.
April 9, 1860,Our little "gang" of slaves sang songs and danced about our African American culture. This helped us forget about our sorry life as a slave. When the singing and dancing was over, we would gather around and tell stories of our culture, like Br'er Rabbit. I remember the days when I wasn't a slave yet. I used to love this story. Now, I feel like I want to outsmart my "master," just like the character in Br'er Rabbit, Shulo.
