Cooper's Poem and Author's Statement

To Honor Tamar

by Cooper B.

Taken from her Family

Taken from her Village

Taken from her Homeland

Taken From Africa

Tamar survived the Middle Passage, not only that, but

She lived to tell the tale, to her daughter, and her

grandkids

Enslaved in Connecticut

Emancipated in Connecticut

Married in Connecticut

Died in Connecticut

Tamar survived the Middle Passage, not only that, but

She lived to tell the tale, to her daughter, and her

grandkids

To Connecticut through a ship

But the ship wrecked

Jonathan Todd then “Found” her

He took her

Enslaved her

Tamar survived the Middle Passage, not only that, but

She lived to tell the tale, to her daughter, and her

grandkids

Emancipated in 1791

She was allowed to live her life

Except

She wasn’t

Tamar survived the Middle Passage, not only that, but

She lived to tell the tale, to her daughter, and her

grandkids

Married to Prim

Then she moved to Branford

Lived there until his death

Finished life in Madison

She was Taken

Her life was Taken

My Author's Statement:

I felt so compelled to write To Honor Tamar because I felt so bad that people would take away her basic human rights and treat her like a piece of property. Also, I felt compelled to write it because I felt that this was my way of saying what happened to her was wrong. It was also my way of telling whoever will read it that Tamar was just as human as everybody else.