Emem Okeke Diary Entry
Life of a Slave in the Middle Passage
Dear Diary,
My name is Emem Okeke and I am 13 years old. I have just come off of a train transporting me to a plantation in America. I have been separated from all of my family (my mother, father, my brother and my sister) and I am most likely going to a different plantation. I was living in Sierra Leone when I got kidnapped. My tribe was a peaceful one, and we weren’t in any wars at the time, but while all of our tribe was asleep, another tribe ambushed us in the middle of the night. Our tribe leader was killed in the attack and about half of our tribe was kidnapped. We were all marched towards the forts at the shore to wait for the merchant ships to arrive. We could not run away , as we were tied up,
but even if we could and we tried, we would have probably been killed. There were 7 other tribes gathered, waiting for the ships. We had to wait about a week before they all came. We were all herded onto the boat in a single file and placed in cells. Anyone who tried to run away was whipped and had sea water poured over the whip wounds. It was rare for any of the ship’s crew to come down and take us out for any exercise and we only got given meals once a day, and even then it was a very small meal, consisting of a single corn cake and some water. We landed in an area called Florida, but were moved to a city called New Orleans in an area called Louisiana. We were sent there as it was the main city for slave auctions. We were sold off and sent to Texas aboard a train. I’ve only been a slave for a few months, but I’ve already been wanting to escape. I’ve heard of a country to the north of America called Canada. Apparently slaves have managed to escape over there and live as free citizens. I’ve also heard the merchants talk about a man called Abraham Lincoln who is trying to abolish slavery in the southern states of America, as the northern states don’t have any. I’ll wait and see how things turn out before trying to escape to Canada, as it seems my master might be a kinder person than the slave merchants I crossed the Atlantic with
Dear Diary,
My name is Emem Okeke and I am 13 years old. I have just come off of a train transporting me to a plantation in America. I have been separated from all of my family (my mother, father, my brother and my sister) and I am most likely going to a different plantation. I was living in Sierra Leone when I got kidnapped. My tribe was a peaceful one, and we weren’t in any wars at the time, but while all of our tribe was asleep, another tribe ambushed us in the middle of the night. Our tribe leader was killed in the attack and about half of our tribe was kidnapped. We were all marched towards the forts at the shore to wait for the merchant ships to arrive. We could not run away , as we were tied up,
but even if we could and we tried, we would have probably been killed. There were 7 other tribes gathered, waiting for the ships. We had to wait about a week before they all came. We were all herded onto the boat in a single file and placed in cells. Anyone who tried to run away was whipped and had sea water poured over the whip wounds. It was rare for any of the ship’s crew to come down and take us out for any exercise and we only got given meals once a day, and even then it was a very small meal, consisting of a single corn cake and some water. We landed in an area called Florida, but were moved to a city called New Orleans in an area called Louisiana. We were sent there as it was the main city for slave auctions. We were sold off and sent to Texas aboard a train. I’ve only been a slave for a few months, but I’ve already been wanting to escape. I’ve heard of a country to the north of America called Canada. Apparently slaves have managed to escape over there and live as free citizens. I’ve also heard the merchants talk about a man called Abraham Lincoln who is trying to abolish slavery in the southern states of America, as the northern states don’t have any. I’ll wait and see how things turn out before trying to escape to Canada, as it seems my master might be a kinder person than the slave merchants I crossed the Atlantic with