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NeBAS: Never Been A Slave is a story that not only transcends time and tradition, but brings the reader full circle to the discovery that true acceptance and the power to heal are found firmly in the family.Never Been a Slave by Tracy Streeter released in 2022 is the product of a worthwhile wait of some 50 years or so.
The authors' dad died in 2016. So it's not so long ago that this story really happened. It's just that it took some time to live it out, pray about it and be able to share this awesome experience with others.
Reverend Streeter's story is set in Indiana, Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi. He makes it very clear, how different family history is from knowledge of your ancestors. Today we have DNA testing and all the others but he shows how the simple knowledge of who is family is a new experience which surpasses anything we might envision.
He begins by telling us a story which weaves through the 1800's, 1900 and the present. He discusses the meaning of equality. This thorny unresolved issue which underlies any understanding of the gap between white and colored folk. As he says "I have delivered most of your slaves' babies myself and some of them are coming out as light as me and you. Kinda wonder how that keeps happening?"
Without slandering or using distorted terms of hatred or praise, he allows the reader to feel the passions of the moment as babies are born and young sons unearth and accept their destinies.
If we recall these were the States from which thousands of free, indentured and freed Africans ran to Canada using the Underground Railroad. They were skilled workers, often literate and determined to make a new life in a new world.
NeBAS. His story is of now. He speaks of a family reunion on Juneteenth, i.e. June 19th. A family reunion is the hall mark of people of color. In fact I just visited Glace Bay in the Eastern coast of Canada where plans were afoot for the next homecoming event for all those Black families now spread out across Canada, families who still remember what it was like to be discriminated against simply because of their skin color. As then as now, skin color continues to be a ridiculous determinant of 'Blackness' as mixed ancestry continues to be the dominant feature of African and Nova Scotian Canadians.
Never Been a Slave is a love story. A love story guided by belief in God. Enjoy this easy read.
REVIEWED BY
Eleanor Wint
Dr Eleanor Wint, well-known author & retired professor of Social Work. Living in Canada, she has published 5 books focusing on self -confidence in parents and children. Dr Wint writes from knowledge developed over years of working with children and families in different cultures across the world.
