Heroes of the Colored Race

 Back in 1865, the heroes of the colored race were black, white, northerners and southerners who not only championed the cause of freedom for all but in many cases took the extra step to make emancipation happen for some slaves. Many of these heroes worked tirelessly to change the laws associated with slavery and to assist slaves brave enough to purchase their freedom with their life and self emancipate (runaway) on their own. 

It was these heroes who set up and ran the underground railroad, an illegal operation until no longer needed in 1865. Paperwork related to the operation of the underground railroad was well guarded and hidden because to be caught with such records could have meant the loss of your freedom, property, and in some cases your life, especially if you were a black abolitionist.

The Underground Railroad

William Still did manage to maintain the written record of his work on the underground railroad, not only to chronicle the exploits of the runaway slave but in the hope of someday being able to reunite black families torn apart by slavery the way his own family had been separated by the rules of slavery a long time ago.

In fact, one of the runaway slaves that would come William Still's way during his work on the clandestine underground railroad would turn out to be his own brother Peter Still.

Thomas Garrett, a white abolitionist, whose religious-driven antislavery belief had him working on the underground railroad, another hero of the colored race during the days of slavery in this nation. The secret written records Garrett kept would show that he had helped more than twenty-one-hundred slaves escape to freedom. Thomas Garrett was one of the people who were overjoyed about the Juneteenth Day Celebration and the end of slavery in the south.

Garret was hoisted upon the shoulders of a crowd of jubilant black men and carried through the streets of Wilmington Delaware in celebration of the passage of the 15th Amendment, he was carried along by those who saw him as a hero of the colored race. Thomas Garrett was recognized for his work on the underground railroad, his commitment to, and the work within his own community to combat slavery.  

The black history heroes list is long and almost always includes abolitionists like Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, the list of unsung heroes I would say is just as long. My hope is that each and every one of the stories associated with the heroes of the colored race will find its way into a manuscript and into a book,  I love reading about this stuff especially keeping in mind today's African American heroes, like our first black female vice-president Kamala Harris.

 

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