HOW YEA, I YIELD TO UB TODDUH FRIEND, GULLAH STATESMAN ROBERT SMALLS!" BOOK REVIEW BY AGNES LEVINE! (4398 hits)
For Immediate Release From Levine-Oliver Publisher, Inc.!
"YEA, I YIELD TO UB TODDUH FRIEND, GULLUH STATESMAN, ROBERT SMALLS!” A BOOK REVIEW OF BY AGNES B. LEVINE
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The book, “Gullah Statesman Robert Smalls: From Slavery To Congress” is a great book to read to learn and understand the story behind slavery of Gullah-Geechee folks and their subsequent freedom. It is rich in Civil War history of the 18th Century from the Gullah point of view.
This is the story about the courageous act of a black Gullah-Geechee man who took a Confederate ship and sailed that ship into the hands of the Union military and ultimately to freedom for himself and everybody on board! It was a truly heroic plan of Robert Smalls who piloted the ship using his expert captain skills that Robert learned from working on the ship, who avoided detection by the Confederate soldiers guarding their forts along the waters’ escape route quite cleverly, and who escaped death in the blackness of the rough sea, all remarkably contributed to the Union having the victory of winning the Civil War!
Gullah Statesman Robert Smalls: From Slavery To Congress takes the reader through the journey of Robert Smalls who went on to stay committed to helping the Gullah-Geechee men, women, and children affected by the harshness of slavery and the harsh aftermath of slavery when the conditions of former slaves were just as tough. Robert Smalls not only gained his personal freedom, it was the beginning of securing freedom for others.
Robert Smalls helped both the former slaves and the newly-freed slaves to obtain better educational opportunities, their right to vote for better opportunities, and improved economic opportunities for the newly-freed Blacks. He won his nomination to the Legislature in South Carolina and became known as the Gullah Statesman. That gave him a representative voice in the legislature. All of this was a selfless act by Robert Smalls who went on to demonstrate his love and respect for humanity in the aftermath of slavery.
Gullah Statesman Robert Smalls: From Slavery To Congress” is an important piece in the history of the South into the 20th Century. The book discusses the political climate of the day in terms any political science student will appreciate. I learned such great truth about this Gullah Statesman resulting in an intense feeling of pride of the Gullah-Geechee American citizen.
