They Call Me Teach: Lessons in Freedom

With a spare, moving first-person narration told in an era-appropriate dialect, complemented by stunning watercolour illustrations, the celebrated duo of Lesa Cline-Ransome and James E. Ransome honour the bravery and generosity of spirit behind countless untold acts of resistance during the time of slavery.

The young man known as Teach secretly learned to read, write, and use numbers growing up alongside the master’s son. And although on this Southern plantation these are skills he can never flaunt, Teach doesn’t keep them to himself: In the course of a week, he’ll teach little ones the alphabet in the corner stall of a stable and hold a moonlit session where men scratch letters in the dirt. He’ll decipher a discarded letter bearing news of Yankee soldiers and forge a pass for a woman hoping to buy precious time on a perilous journey north. And come Sunday, Teach will cross the swamp to a hidden cabin, reading aloud to the congregation God’s immortal words to the pharaoh: Let my people go. An author’s note highlights the vital role of literacy and education toward the securing of freedom, both historically and to the present day.