MEDIA

Mumbet's Declaration of Independence

by Gretchen WOELFLE
1 CD. 16 min. Dreamscape. 2015. $14.99. ISBN 9781633796010.
COPY ISBN
Gr 1–5—This brief slice of history takes place in 1780s Massachusetts, where an intelligent and strong slave woman was known as Mumbet by the household's slave children and Betty by her owners, the Ashleys. Although Mumbet could neither read nor write, she could listen, and after hearing her owner talk about the Massachusetts Constitution provision that "all men are born free and equal, and have certain natural, essential, and unalienable rights," Mumbet wondered about herself. She approached a young lawyer named Theodore Sedgewick who agreed to represent Mumbet and then went on to win her freedom and that of 5,000 Massachusetts slaves. Susie Berneis is the voice artist who narrates the story and captures Mumbet's and the other characters' voices with sensitivity and conviction.
VERDICT This deceptively simple story is an excellent introduction to the powerful and noble liberties outlined in our state and national constitutions.
Reviewed by Mary Lee Bulat, Harwinton Public Library, CT , Jun 01, 2015

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