Growing up enslaved on Maryland plantations, he first learns how power shapes family and life.

Sophia Auld's brief teaching opens a new world; literacy becomes both beacon and risk.

From Covey's brutality to covert saving, he regains agency and plans a daring escape.

As lecturer and author, he turns memory into critique and reshapes public debate.

Emancipation Proclamation and Black soldiers redefine citizenship and national purpose.