The Freedom Business

By Marilyn Nelson

Book Overview

The true narrative of a slave from Africa, crafted in verse by Marilyn Nelson. Born an African prince, Broteer Furro was captured by slave traders at age six. As he stepped onto a cargo ship, the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1932425578
• ISBN13: 9781932425574
• Release Date: October 2008
• Publisher: Wordsong
• Length: 72 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.2" x 10.0"
• Age Range: 12 to 17 years
• Grade Range: Grades 7 to 12

Customer Reviews

Broteer Furro was "first man to document both his capture from Africa and life as an American slave!

His name was Broteer Furro, the first son of a prince. He was born in Dukandarra, Guinea in 1729. Broteer's mother left his polygamous father when he was five and left him in the care of a farmer. A year later, his father came to fetch him, but soon after that his father was murdered and he himself was sent on a four hundred-mile march, only to be sold into slavery. In Anamaboo he soon boarded a canoe bound for Rhode Island. He was soon dubbed "Venture," but that was the only thing about Broteer that changed. He remained a determined, fiercely independent person throughout his life. He would go on to raise a family and struggle to buy their freedom. This is his story, a story he dictated for the world to remember him by. It was published in 1798. I was fascinated by Venture's story, having never heard the name even though the author's information claims he was the "first man to document both his capture from Africa and life as an American slave." The biography was printed on the left-hand page, the poetry on the right. Although both were stunning, I was somewhat distracted by the set up as the story was so interesting and went back to the poetry only after finishing the story.

A unique poetry collection

The Freedom Business is a unique poetry collection, in which each poem is created in response to the true-life memoir of Broteer Furro (1729-1805), later dubbed "Venture Smith", the first African known to document his capture and life as an American slave. As the decades passed he eventually earned his freedom, and that of his wife and children. Poet Marilyn Nelson places pages from Furro's eighteenth-century prose memoir side-by-side along with original poetic works, illustrated by the dark, earthy watercolor collages of artist Deborah Dancy. The whole is a work of art that reveals emotion, determination, and survival; the daily life of a practical man for whom everything had a price - even his life, and the lives of his family. Highly recommended.