Mary Prince
vers 1788-après 1833 19th century
Testimony given by the one who endured, and hope held while nothing is resolved.
Who was Mary Prince?
Born a slave in Bermuda and sold four times, she worked the salt ponds of the Turks Islands, where the salt ate the legs to the bone. Baptised among the Moravians in Antigua and married to a freed man, she was brought to London by her owners and became free by setting foot ashore, but could never return to her husband without becoming a slave again. She dictated her story to a friend: the first narrative by a Black woman published in Britain.
In their own words
I have been a slave myself--I know what slaves feel--I can tell by myself what other slaves feel, and by what they have told me.
I felt sorry for my sins also. I cried the whole night, but I was too much ashamed to speak. I prayed God to forgive me.
I still live in the hope that God will find a way to give me my liberty, and give me back to my husband. I endeavour to keep down my fretting, and to leave all to Him, for he knows what is good for me better than I know myself. Yet, I must confess, I find it a hard and heavy task to do so.