Good Fortune (9781416998631) (57 page)

FICTION

The plantation in Tennessee on which the story takes place, and the characters that are built around the plantation life are also fictional pieces.

FACT

Plantation Life

The setting in which the characters of the plantation were placed is based on slaveholding plantations that existed in Tennessee. There were not many large plantations in this state in the early 1800s, and those that existed specialized in the growing of tobacco, cotton, and corn; livestock tending; and the cultivation of other products or, in most cases, some combination of these. Plantations during this time period varied in the way slaves worked, how they lived, and the extent of their suffering based on the status, wealth, and power of the plantation owners.

The raping of servant women was not uncommon on slave plantations throughout Tennessee and other slaveholding states. Especially after the importation law of 1808, owners felt it “necessary” to breed their own slaves, from which new generations of mixed children arose.

Religion on the Plantation

The Christian religion was a large component of slavery in the South and it served more than one purpose on a plantation. The plantation owners would often use Christianity to make slaves believe that obeying them and working for them was the only way to freedom. At the same time, religion was a large part of the slave community. It was a means of escape to many, one that could not be found in the physical world. Oftentimes, slave owners would bring in religious speakers for the slaves, or would even have a slavehand schooled in the ways of “preaching.”

African-American Vernacular

The dialect used in the text is a very loose representation of the speaking patterns adopted by the African people who were tossed in a world they knew nothing of, and by the generations that came after them. The purpose of writing the story in such a manner was to pick the reader up and drop them in this time and space, allowing them to maneuver in Anna's world, getting a true sense of how it would have been had Anna's story been real.

FICTION

The slave song Aunt Mary sings to Anna in the first section of
Good Fortune
is a fictitious creation, as is the tale Uncle Bobby tells of Liza.

FACT

These creations were intended to represent the wide plethora of slave songs and spirituals that came out of the system of slavery. These African-American art forms helped create a strong black tradition, shaped by the necessity to escape, in some manner, the dehumanizing institution by which these individuals were bound. Religion, stories, and even secret codes that aided runaways in escaping were all echoed through these traditions of black communication and art. Today, they are essential tools in helping to define the slave experience during this time period.

FICTION

The black communities in the final section of
Good Fortune
—Gibson, Hadson, and Riverside—did not exist in Ohio in the
1820s. Also, while Dayton was (and is) an actual city in Ohio, all of the people and places I describe as being part of this city are fiction.

FACT

Ohio

Ohio became a free state and entered the United States in 1803, the year the newly formed Ohio Constitution outlawed slavery. However, discrimination and racism still existed. As was stated by Dr. Billingsworth in the book, any African American who entered Ohio with the intention of settling had to post a bond of five hundred dollars, in order to ensure good behavior. They had to register with the county clerk and produce and carry free passes that stated that the African-American individual was truly free. These requirements were outlined in Ohio's Black Laws of 1804 and 1807.

Black Communities and Concerns

During this time, African Americans in Ohio established black communities. From Ohio's establishment until 1829, the year many of the black population left Ohio for Canada or other free states, Ohio's black population grew. Free blacks did not necessarily feel the entirety of a free life, for there was still segregation, and the laws between blacks and whites were not balanced. Freedom was not what many had imagined. Although free passes were a necessity, they meant little in many circumstances where blacks could easily have been taken back into slavery. In fact, the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 stated that runaway slaves could be returned to their rightful “owners.” There were laws that were constructed
in the North between 1793 and 1850 (with the passing of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850) that attempted to ensure the personal liberty of blacks. Therefore, while it did inspire caution in the fugitives that ran north, the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 was not as great of a threat as the subsequent Act in 1850.

FICTION

The runaway ad in the book for John is almost completely rooted in fiction and simply adds to the plot and storyline. For one thing, such an ad would not have been posted in the first place describing a runaway found, killed, and a reward paid. Second, rarely, if ever, would such news have been sent from Tennessee to an Ohio paper—the topic would not have been “important” enough.

FACT

Phillis Wheatley and Jupiter Hammon were real figures in history who helped bring to light the capability of the African-American individual to command the art form of writing.

Phillis Wheatley was the first African American, and only the third woman in America, to publish her poetry. She was kidnapped as a small child from West Africa, named after the ship that carried her, and was raised as a slave in America. Here, she was extensively schooled and began to write poetry, at quite a young age. Her first published poem came out in 1767.

Jupiter Hammon was born a slave, but learned how to read and write when he was young. A poem of his printed in 1760 made him the first African-American published writer in America
(Wheatley first had her works published in England). His poem, “An Address to Miss Phillis Wheatley,” which is referred to in
Good Fortune
, was an actual work of his that he wrote for the female poet. In 1786, he gave his famous speech “Address to the Negroes in the State of New York.”

FICTION

Caldwell's character is fictional. Much of his storyline is based more on fiction than fact. While his marriage to Mrs. Rosa was certainly possible, the ways in which he maneuvers between the black world and the white world were creations of the author. The phenomenon of “passing” as white, as Caldwell does, is really an idea and concept that became prominent in the early twentieth century.

FACT

The Early Existence of Black Schools

Education was easier to access in the North than it was in many areas of the South, but black schools did not start gaining prominence until the latter part of the early 1800s. However, schools for blacks did exist in the North beforehand. In New York in 1787, white elites founded the African Free School for blacks. Even though the school was replicated in other areas, it did not appeal to the majority of Northern blacks, and it was not widely attended.

In Boston, Massachusetts, in the late 1780s, a good number of blacks strongly resisted the injustice that arose when it came to educating their black youth, and in 1798 more than fifty of these black citizens established the African School. This school
was officially recognized by the Boston School Committee in 1812 after countless petitions. Also in Boston in the early 1800s, black students attended white schools, though this was rare. In Ohio, however (Ohio being rather young in comparison to other northern states), the first free black school, Harveysburg, was not built until 1831.

Anna, having stepped into a small town that knew nothing of such cases, can only build dreams about gaining an education based on what she sees and hears. Her fear that education is not a possibility for her come from her knowledge of the South and of the small town she finds herself living in.

Anna's Education

Anna's search for an education is not intended to show that there were no opportunities for African Americans to get educated in the North. In her circumstances, in the small town she arrived in, she felt limited by what was around her, and rightfully so. What is more, when Caldwell and Mrs. Rosa warn Anna about the dangers associated with getting educated, they are by no means implying that, in itself, striving to get educated was a dangerous venture. The problematic societal issues lay in getting educated in white schools, and after attaining an education, using it in dangerous ways, as Caldwell did. Such was the case with author David Walker, who in 1829 wrote an appeal that created much controversy throughout the nation, and possibly led to his death, due to the impact it suggested making on the black communities in America. Some even believe that Nat Turner's rebellion came about because of this appeal.

FACT OR FICTION?

In the end, Anna, through a miraculous unfolding of events, is reunited with John. Such a twist of fate this is, and such a difficult ground to tread upon in attempting to shed light on the unromanticized planes of truth. And yet, was it not possible for but one circumstance to wriggle through the desolation slavery and its effects caused and blossom in an optimistic light? Was it totally misheard of for a single heart to beat so richly that in all the abjectness, all the pain, the stripping of pride, the suffering, and the loss, not one beating heart could attract a blessing wished for to the doors of reality? Is it a venture into the unreal or simply a dip into the uncommon? Certainly such an ending speaks to an author's right to play with the boundaries of facts versus fiction.

So, fact or fiction? You choose.

FACT OR FICTION?

“Mama used to always tell me that you could find the greatest freedom in your mind.”

Such is the quote that echoes strongly through the pages of
Good Fortune
.

In today's world we are now searching for that place within us, a place our ancestors would perhaps call freedom. Their fight was different in fact but the same in substance. We are running, trying to escape the mentality that has grown like a weed by our side. We are searching for that self, for that peace, for that contentment. Where is it? Where could this freedom be? Is it in the memory of the past, the recovery of our culture, the
understanding of one another and of humanity in order to create a better future? Is it in our willingness to move beyond subjective mentalities and to love without condition or reason? Is it in our ability to utilize the gifts we have and the inspiration inside of us to open our hearts and our minds? Is it in the power we have to free ourselves from the bondage of our own fears that keep us from getting up and striving farther when we fall, and giving our best even when there's nothing more to gain? Is it in the time it takes to surpass our own limitations and to set ourselves free? The quote states, “the greatest freedom lies in your mind.” Is this fact or is this fiction? It's your journey. You choose.

I'm feeling multitudes of gratitude to all of you who've helped me through this beautiful, wonderful journey. I am so very grateful to the people that have shaped this experience for me, the voices that remained undaunted in their never-changing exclamations that shouted through every in and out of this journey: “Of course you can!” I appreciate you, your support through this journey, and your belief in me.

To my family: I thank you for your love—there is truly nothing more beautiful in this world. To my siblings: Dara, beautiful one, for that brilliance in mind and in Spirit that never ceases, I mean
never ceases
, to inspire; Camara, manager, for watching me plant seeds and helping me cultivate them in growth; and Desmond, my role model, for being more than available, for laughter, for your love, your unwavering support, and your valuing all that I do—thank you! To my parents: I can hand you no amount of gratitude that fits, lest I chase down something that has no beginning, and has no ending. Mom, my soul's reflection, I thank you for your patience, your presence when the muses fail, when the lights grow dim, when the patience quails; thank you for being there, for giving me the sparks to reignite my own power and faculty within with your brilliance, with your beautiful energy. Daddy, my father, thank you for being a strong mirror of me, for listening even when
I'm convinced that you aren't, for the time and energy that you've invested in me and in my life; you ARE this project as much as I am. What more could one ask for? I appreciate all of you.

To my mentor, Kwame Alexander, I'm grateful to you, and appreciate your open, enriching, inspiring personality that makes me want to pick up a pen and get to it! Thank you for your time, for being such an incredible agent of mobility who knows how to get things done. This project would not be where it is if it wasn't for you. To Dr. Bertice Berry, to Tananarive Due, I am astounded by the ways in which you never fail to spread your wings of guidance over me without question, without hesitancy, without fail. Thank you for giving me this sense of knowing, I am immensely grateful.

To my uncles, all of you who have been quite instrumental in this process—Uncle Jake, Uncle Craig, Uncle Reggie—I appreciate you for your unselfish commitment to helping me move in the direction I need to go; to my aunts—Aunt Sharon, Aunt Dee—for receiving those necessary calls, for being there to piggyback off of and share with; to my extended family in your support, your advice, your love; to my Hillside family—Reverend Dr. King, Rev. Sharon, Mrs. Kilgore, and all others—for that spiritual energy you've taught me to cultivate within and spread without, thank you!

I send special thanks to Rubin Pfeffer, your energy is very much alive and present in this project; to my agent, Conrad Rippy, for your friendly and tactful way of maneuvering so professionally through this process.

To my instructors that helped transform mere lessons
into life—Mr. Key, Mrs. Kent, Mrs. Holland, Dr. Pattiz, Mrs. Beatles—thank you for your commitment to perfection, it can only rub off. If only the world had more of YOU! You broadened my agency and truly convinced me that I have what it takes to be me. Thank you.