Freedom Over Me Quotes

“Through all my years
enslaved,
I've listened to
ancestral voices
echoing through
my weariness,
giving me strength
to withstand injustice,
to believe in myself
and survive.

May our songs and stories
keep alive in us
the will to grow in learning.
The longing to be free!”
― Ashley Bryan, Freedom Over Me: Eleven Slaves, Their Lives and Dreams Brought to Life by Ashley Bryan

“I've walked a long trail,
a long trail of years
flushed with tears.
Tears of remembrance.

Years of driven labor
have not driven
the ancestral thoughts
out of me.
My memory of teaching—
surrounded by children,
singing songs of our people,
the stories of our history—
lives always with me...

Song shields our hearts from abuse,
draws us together,
strengthens our lives.”
― Ashley Bryan, Freedom Over Me: Eleven Slaves, Their Lives and Dreams Brought to Life by Ashley Bryan