Liam

Theophilus, and the legacy of his suffrage

by Liam

Many names given,

But all in the name of enslavement.

“Property of Thomas and Abigail Hodgkin.”

“Enslaved here”

“Theophilus Niger”

“Emancipated ca. 1760”

His last 10 years spent as a

Farmer,

Land owner,

Father,

Husband,

But far before then,

Blisters,

Scars,

Slashes from the whips on the slave ships,

His skin like a blade of grass, being cut into pieces,

Lucky to even be alive, but never alleviated from his pain until 1760.

Married to Penelope Tantipen,

The woman he loved more than anything

Father of

William,

Eliab,

Phebe,

Philip,

Ama,

and Theophilus Jr.

He loved his children, and gave them a life he dreamed of for his whole entire enslavement.

But in return,

He was taken from his family,

And suffered as property of Thomas and Abigail Hodgkin, with only 10 years left to live the life he deserved,

And he trudged through life along with the millions of people beside him sharing the same feats of injustice.

His legacy should be remembered as an example of

Determination,

Hope,

Love,

Generosity,

And suffering.

He never quit,

He never stopped aching,

He never stopped hoping for the life that he deserved,

And yet, for his last 10 years, he got what he wanted.

All he wanted was to be free, and to work with reward,

And yet it took him until 1760 to get what we take for granted…

Freedom.

Liam's Poet's Statement:

I chose to write a poem, because I felt it was the best way to express Theophilus’ importance and legacy. However, there were also reasons for the formatting in my writing. I felt that putting space between the words was the best way to separate the different events that occurred to him, but also connect them by putting them into one piece of writing. I believe that the things that happened to Theophilus Niger deserve to be their own events, but also part of one life of Theophilus in the bigger picture. I also wanted to make sure the reader took their time while reading this, since the events that happened to him play a very significant role in his legacy, which I feel that everyone should remember. I made sure to represent the suffering he went through, but also how he can be remembered as somebody who still gave back, and started a family, even though he was never treated like his sons and daughters, but rather as a tool, or property of Thomas and Abigail Hodgkin. Although there aren’t many poetic devices, I don’t think many are needed to represent what Theophlius went through, which is what I tried my best to represent in this poem, even though none of us experienced it or watched it happen to him, which is also something that’s very important for us to remember, since we will never fully understand what he went through.