Episode 7 - Ida Adkin - Slave Narrative (Juneteenth Special)

WokeTales - Woke Folktales

This week’s episode comes before Juneteenth and I bring you a story of an 8 year old slave girl, Ida Adkin. This is a real story narrated by her when she was 79 years old in Slave Narrative - A Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves prepared by The Federal Writers’ Project 1936-1938. Ida tells an incident from her life when she risked her life to save and help her masters from union soldiers. Her bravery, courage, and strength of character are evident in the story but we also talk about the psychological grooming she had which contributed to her unconditional submission and service towards her masters. We also discuss how bare minimum symbolic gestures are still performed to create a good image. Finally we talk about Juneteenth, it's history, and the loophole in 13th amendment which still permits slavery in prison system.