Malindy's freedom

"Malindy, born a free Cherokee Indian, was unlawfully enslaved as a child by a Franklin County, Missouri, farmer. Married to a freedman, Malindy gave birth to five children in slavery - creating a family she would fight her whole life to keep together. As a testament to her iron will, Malindy's great-granddaughters Mildred Johnson and Theresa Delsoin have lived to share the story passed on through their family for generations - a story of courage, conviction, and love." "In Malindy's Freedom, Johnson and Delsoin construct a narrative that realistically re-creates Malindy's world - the individuals she encountered, the crucibles she faced, the battles she won. The authors relied principally on census records, along with other primary and secondary sources, to back up the oral histories passed on from their grandmother about the "peculiar institution" of slavery. As a slave narrative, Malindy's story is unique because it makes clear that the African American experience derives from Native American and European, as well as African, roots. The beauty of Malindy's Freedom is the authors' appreciation of their ancestors as human beings, who did the best they could for their families under inhuman conditions."--Jacket.