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Saturday, March 1, 2014

Understanding the Significance of Mumbet in the Berkshires of Massachusetts


Understanding the Significance of Mumbet in the Berkshires of Massachusetts

It might be said at it's greatest moment that the petitioning slave Mumbet of Sheffield, MA made her mark to emancipate herself from slavery at a pivotal moment in American History;
Mumbet's exoneration from her slave owner John Ashley.  Her petition to Barrister Theodore Sedgwick to help her emancipate herself came at a time when Massachusetts was moving in the direction of freeing more and more slaves calling for equality of all men including women.
What's most fascinating is her accomplishments at achieving woman's rights as an American citizen as well as a free slave.

I'm enamored at the what rich history lies in the foothills of the Berkshires to no avail allowing us all to get a better understanding of what has made up our American back bone....our core set of equal rights and abolishing a bombastic slave ritual in Southern Massachusetts that would eventually die a slow death.  What can we glean from her story is best yet described as a cry out for all of our individual freedoms and reiterates the call for freedom in our American spirit that still rings true for all Americans using Mumbet as the example of how we should value what rights and privileges we hold close to our hearts not just as black Americans but as all Americans.  Mumbet's story is one of ever lasting quiet vigilance that reiterates the methodology that Martin Luther King laid down in order to gain equality later in years for the entire black community using Ghandi's principles.  

I applaud what Mumbet accomplished in South West Massachusetts in the late 1700's and take her story as a milestone of reiteration on what the American Spirit is all about.  In a microcosm, Mumbet's story in a little region of the Berkshires sings true and holds fast to the American dream where freedom is not truly appreciated until in part you have some of it taken away.  It is not until then can your really appreciate what we have to admire and embrace in a free society that you swell up with complete admiration for an American slave that not only gained respect by gaining her own freedom but truly allowed us all to help ourselves appreciate more what we now have in this country compared to many places abroad.....Mumbet....a pioneer that represents the American Dream.


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