MY SLAVE DAYS

MY TRAGIC STORY

Every slave has their own story,let me tell you mine. My name is Carmen Johnson & I am 87 years old. I was a slave my whole life. I lived in North Carolina.My parents were slaves as well. My father was killed in the cornfield plowing. He was shot by my master, Joseph Anderson, just for stopping to take a drink of water. He said "If a man can't work without lasting a few hours without water, he aint a man, so he aint worth living."

My mother and I were crushed. There was nothing we could do, my father is gone and never coming back. He is dead. that wasnt anything compared to what happened to my mother and me. We were inside getting ready for bed. The work day was done and it was time to sleep. A knock was at the door and my mother told me to finish combing my hair as she went to answer the door. It was our master Joseph, he was drunk as usual. "My misterist dont want me today and you're the only one left" were his words. I aint ever forgetting those words. My mother was speechless, he grabbed her by the waist tight and threw her to the bed. "NO! MASTER! PLEASE DON'T DO THIS TO ME!!" I was teriffied! I didnt even move. I started crying and the master noticed but didn't care. All he said was "Watch, this may be you one day," and kept rapping my mother.

I was only nine years old. There wasn't much i could do so i just closed my eyes and cried. When he was done, he got up and left. My mother laid on the bed crying with her face down on the pillow. She turnd around, saw me, and went to give me hug. We didn't waste any time, we packed our belonnings which wasn't many and ran away. It was late at night, everyone was asleep so it wasn't difficult. My mother and I walked all the way to Virginia. She had a sister over there so that was where we headed.

By the time we arrived, our feet were soar. When we got there my Auntie, my mom's sister, hugged us both!! We told her what happened and she was furious!!She married a rich white lawyer & he solved our situation. He gave my mother & I FREEDOM!!My mother and I were no longer slaves. We did the only thing we could do after all the bad things we've been through:we MOVED ON!!

My Values

I have many values that are important to me. What I value the most is my family. I have one brother named Manny. I don't have no one else,it's just me and him.I have two great parents that really care about me and I care about them also. I have great cousins,uncles, aunts, a niece and nephews. All of them make me laugh so much and put a smile on my face. Whenever I feel down they do anything to make me feel better. My life would really suck if I didn't have a great family like the one I have now. Since I don't have any sisters I am alwayz counting and talking to my girl cousins for advice on situations. They are older and have been threw stoff that I am going threw right now as a Teenager.

My classmates had the same values as I did. They also care about their family. We agreed that family are important and come before aything. Family is always with us in the good & bad situations. It doesn't matter what happens, family is family!! Family is always putting a smile on pur faces and is supportive, Whatever decision we make they are there to help. If we join a spport or a type of program like JROTC they won't make fun of us. They accept whatever we do for school and in life.
I asked my brother what he values the most and he doesn't agree with me. Instead he values girls!!He told me that they are prettier and he is always with them in school. If you have a pretty cousin you can't do anything but if you see a pretty girl you can flirt with her. My brother is thirteen and he is getting ideas in his head already!!He is crazy and is always flirting with girls in school. When there is a pretty girl around he just stares at her until it is time to leave.