Summer Wyatt
American Lit.
Period 7
Mrs. Keller
Most nights I cried as a little girl, your home is supposed to be a safe place. However, my home was more like a prison; I came from an abusive home. Growing up I saw things that even most adults don’t see. When Child Services would come, my brothers and sisters and I were too scared to say anything so we just didn’t say anything. However, when my older brother and older sister moved out, along with my stepfather , the abuse stopped. I thought the terrible things I had seen as a child, I would never have to see again, but what happened next I would have never guessed. On February 19, 2012 my mom punched me in the face, she took everything good I had in my heart and destroyed it. I called the cops, child services, but they all believed my mom that I was just a bad kid. The next Sunday after I went to my dad’s, I came home and was forced to my room. That night my mom said she was going to put bars on my window, so the next time she hits me I can’t run and call the cops. So that night when everyone was sleeping I ran away. I was gone for 52 days , I was so scared that my mom would find me. Nobody will ever understand what I went through. Some hardships African Americans faced on a daily basis was malnourishment, disrespect and having to do, the responsibilities of the owners of the house. My mother would tell us she owned us, this was so similar to the slaves. They were human beings being treated like animals. Their rights as humans were taken away, just as I had felt living with my mom, not being allowed to be my own person. In the song “Swing low, Sweet Chariot” slaves are basically saying god, someone, anyone take me home to the place where I belong. In the song , when the slaves say “coming for to carry me home,” it is an expression used to say that they are either waiting for the day that they can go home and be free or waiting for the day to be in heaven. When they say “band of angels coming after me, “it means that they are waiting for the angels to meet them and to take them to the golden gates of heaven. The river of Jordan represents death. The chariot represents salvation into heaven. Compared to my own beliefs, I feel that no matter what cards life hands you, you half to stay strong and have faith that one day things will be better for you. “Swing Low , Sweet Chariot.” Is similar to the song “Go Down, Moses.” “Go Down, Moses” is about a poor man wanting the pharaoh to let his people go. Each stanza gets more intense and demanding from the poor man to release all of the slaves. The emotions that Moses and the poor man had were anger. The slaves just wanted to go home. Moses had told the Pharaoh to let his people or he would kill his first born child. That to me, sounds like anger. The phrase “let my people go” is referring to the slaves wanting Harriet Tubman to help the slaves escape by using the Underground Railroad. The pharaoh in the song is represented as the whites who had owned slaves. My experiences were similar to hard ships of the slave because they were scared and just wanted to be safe but they stayed strong through it and tried to have faith that one day it all would be over, I was the same way going through everything I went through. The slaves didn’t lose faith and neither did I.