Assignment for February Break

Building Freedom

Many unknown secrets kept from the people.

How people were traded in our Nation’s Capital.

The National Mall- a tourist destination,

Was once used as a market, for selling,

And trading people- trading and selling slaves.

The Yellow House, burdened as a slave market.

William H. Williams- The owner of the house.

He made so much money, he had two slave ships-

The Tribune and the Uncas, where people began

Their journey towards incarceration and

Complete discrimination. To the Yellow House,

Where they were treated as property, not as humans.

The Yellow House- dark and damp. Bars on windows,

And limbs of slaves chained to furniture.

A female slave, beaten without mercy. Cries heard,

Throughout slave pens. The President himself-

George Washington- A slave owner and a slave breeder.

Many other Presidents followed in owning slaves.

Slaves in the Nation’s Capital, building the city

That is the cause of their imprisonment. They build

White walls that will bring freedom to white people,

Building freedom that they will never know.