The year is 1850 and Dominic is a slave working on a plantation in the Deep South. A woolly haired woman comes to him and says: “You can live free! Dom, you don’t have to live on this here plantation no mo’.”
Dom barely raised an eyebrow. “What are you talking about, Woman?” Dom hissed, speaking only slightly above a whisper. Anyone even heard talking of freedom could be shot on sight. Surely she had to know that. He wondered was she trying to lure him to his death.
She replied, “I’ve been living free for 20 years. Come follow me.”
The question is: Should he go?
Dom stared the woolly haired woman up and down and responded, “You don’t look so special to me. You’ve got woolly hair.”
“True dat,” she said. “But I live free. I do what I want on my own plot of land. It ain’t grand or nothing, but it’s mine and I’m free.”
Dom tells her the boss man has him working 6 days a week, and what’s more Master says he has to work 7 days come harvest time. “Where am I going? Who’s gonna take care of me when I leave? YOU?” Dominic asks incredulously.
Woolly haired woman says, “You’ll take care of yourself. It’s hard at first, but a journey of 1000 miles begins with a first step. You’ve got to take that step off this here plantation, but first you’ve got to prepare. You’ve got to do the work.”
“WORK!” Dom practically explodes, “Woman, did you hear me tell you that I work 6 days a week, damn near sun-up to sundown? Where am I supposed to find the time to make preparations. You talking foolish!”
Woolly haired woman says, “You wanna be free don’t you?”
Dom says, “Oh, I’m gonna be free. I’m getting off this here plantation”.
Woolly haired woman says, “You’ll work for the Master, but not for yourself? Who’s talking foolish?”
“I work for the Master because I have to, not because I want to!” Dom huffed.
“Then work for yourself because you want to be free, and not because you have to be a slave. You’ve got to find the time to prepare or maybe Master gonna sell you to a bigger plantation.”
“A bigger plantation?” Dom’s eyes widened, “Will I eat better, dress better?”
Woolly haired woman replied, “Probably, but you’ll still be a slave. I wanna show you how to gets free!”
Question is: What would you do? Would you follow the woolly haired woman?
It’s 2019. The woolly haired woman of 1850 was Harriet Tubman. The plantation of 2019 is WHATEVER IS HOLDING YOU BACK FROM BEING FREE. Is it YOUR JOB, YOUR DOUBTS, YOUR FEARS?
The questions for this day:
- Who is your woolly haired woman?
- Are you gonna be slave or free?
- You got time to prepare or not?
- You leaving your plantation for a bigger plantation or are you preparing to be Free?