“There is more than one kind of freedom…Freedom to and freedom from. In the days of anarchy, it was freedom to. Now you are being given freedom from. Don’t underrate it.”
Chapter 5, Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood.

Absurd right? That we need to be protected from ourselves is a disturbing bass ackwards idea. But overtime in America, we ave declared independence often at the expense of others declaring that some were only fit for dependence. On this July 4th, I am looking back at the expense of Southern, Texan freedom while doing a little family genealogy and dissertation research. I’ve been doing this for the past 3 years. It is what I’m drawn to grapple with everyday, marrying my spiritual work (loyalty to ancestors and personal growth) and intellectual pursuits (doctoral research and personal growth). This translates into my present struggle to accept the fact that my ancestors were owned for over 27 years by the Kuykendall family. Three Kuykendalls were slave owners and part of the Old 300 or first 300 Texians who came with Stephen F. Austin. 

What does that mean?  To be of a place (Texas, America) in such a way?

My gggg Grandmother Julia Kuykendall married Richard Hunter, Valentine’s Day 1868 in Fort Bend County, Texas (were I grew up). Julia had been sold to the Kuykendalls in 1832 and remained in Ft. Bend after emancipation. See her full name at the bottom of the marriage certificate above.

As much as I detest and grieve this objectification of my ancestors’ soul and brutality against my ancestors’ spirit, I am simultaneously fiercely and even proudly Texan and loyal to constructing an inclusive, honest story of the African Mexican/Texan/American’s claim to the landscape and “memory infrastructure” of this land we currently call “Texas”. And why not?

My ancestors’ blood and sweat is so intermingled with this land and fed the soil and industry that fueled the wealth of the state. It is all MINE as much as any other Texan, maybe more-so. There is what is owed me, there is what i owe my ancestors, and I am gratefully independent enough to tell it all as my own truth.

Sugar Production. From slavery to convict leasing in Sugar Land, Fort Bend County, Texas

This blog is part doctoral work and part healing. And I want to invite this space to be the same for you. What is it that you are fiercely loyal to and what is it that you are declaring independence from on this July 4th or Independence Day? Send something that may take up a paragraph or a few sentences, and I will post it on my blog.

What are you declaring freedom from and what do you need more freedom to do or to be. Send me a word document or send it in the body of an email to: roberta318@gmail.com. I like all posts to have at least one photo or image. JPEGS please. Give me a short bio of no more than 25 words telling people who you are, what your favorite place is, and how you know me.