Sophie's Poem

One of many

by Sophie Hiebert

People, taken from their homes.

Brought to an unknown place,

with unknown people,

and an unknown environment.

Ripped from the comforting arms of their families,

and thrown into the cold and scary world alone.

And everyone says there is nothing to worry about.

Then you hear of all the people who were enslaved in the very place you live.

You hear of the horrible living conditions and treatment,

but you only get to hear it if you're lucky.

Most schools only dip a toe into the pool of challenging topics.

Slavery is one of those topics,

people tend to shy away and not share the importance of honoring everyone who was enslaved.

Tamar was among the people who should be honored.

From what we can tell she was kind,

caring for people when they needed it.

She was a mother, wife, and grandmother.

Tamar is one story,

there are so many people yet to be recognized and honored.

Looking past the pool of challenges to find a beautiful ocean full of stories.

Sophie’s Statement

I decided to write this poem to talk a little about all the people who were enslaved. I didn't talk much about it, but I talked a little bit about it. I talked about a “pool of challenges” because the school systems don’t really talk a lot about slavery or the people who were enslaved. We are very lucky our school gets to learn about slavery and all that history, but for most schools that is very rare. Before we started learning about Tamar I didn't even know there was slavery in Connecticut.