Heading to a historically important grave marker! Very exciting post-Christmas adventure!
We visited the grave of Captain John Walker who, in 1848, attempted to help seven enslaved men escape by sea to British Bermuda. Instead they were caught, the enslaved men returned to their enslavers and Walker was branded with an ‘ss’ for ‘slave stealer.’ This was early in the abolitionist movement and the intent was the send a message to white people about the dangers of involving themselves. It sent an entirely different message and Walker’s branded hand was an astoundingly effective form of propaganda.
Also shown is a separate monument put up for his wife, who is buried elsewhere but was also a dedicated abolitionist. This was installed in 1998 by what I am assuming are dedicated feminist masshole-istas and I salute them.
Finally, my woke white boy sons, listening and learning.
I have, as one can imagine, been thinking a lot these past few days about the message that the torture and mutilation of John Walker was supposed to send to respectable Americans and the message that was actually received by Walker’s white, middle-class peers. And this more contemporary Bluesky post:
“Trump and ICE and the rest of the fascist scum can murder and lie and oppress, but they can’t kill that decency that some real Americans have. They don’t have it, they are inadequate without it, and it infuriates them. But they can’t kill it”
This is also what John Walker’s maiming shows.
