Weeping Willow

The lives of enslaved African Americans are part of the American story, and their descendants carry that history forward. Men, women and children endured slavery's cruelty for generations, from the auction block to the households of their owners. Many of the violent acts were documented, while countless others went unrecorded and can never be fully known. That past still reaches the present through the shackles, worn hands and tears of those who lived it.

The book imagines those ancestors still speaking. Songs and calls for freedom that rose from the cotton fields are carried into the present, and the enslaved seem to press their descendants to tell their stories, even as modern voices try to erase or forget them. Traces of enslaved labor appear in the foundations of many landmarks, from the White House to the large plantation mansions of the South.

Inspired by God, Apostle Linda Harvey wrote this collection in 2021. It blends short stories with creative poetry, and some of its narrators are trees that witnessed the shame and sorrow of lynchings.

The book pauses to reflect, remember and celebrate, paying tribute to those who could not escape but whose hope gave the next generation strength. Its central message is that these people lived and mattered.