They Call Me Teach : Lessons in Freedom

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In this stirring and powerfully illustrated story, an enslaved young man uses his ability to read and write to educate others in the pursuit of freedom.

Back inside the store
I write up receipts
for Masters deliveries
for Masters orders
In tween
I write up a receipt
for her freedom

The young man known as Teach secretly learned to read, write, and use numbers growing up alongside the masters son. And although on this Southern plantation these are skills he can never flaunt, Teach doesnt keep them to himself: In the course of a week, hell teach little ones the alphabet in the corner stall of a stable and hold a moonlit session where men scratch letters in the dirt. Hell decipher a discarded letter bearing news of Yankee soldiers and forge a pass for a woman hoping to buy precious time on a perilous journey north. And come Sunday, Teach will cross the swamp to a hidden cabin, reading aloud to the congregation Gods immortal words to the pharaoh:Let my people go.With a spare, moving first-person narration told in an era-appropriate dialect, complemented by stunning watercolor illustrations, the celebrated duo of Lesa Cline-Ransome and James E. Ransome honor the bravery and generosity of spirit behind countless untold acts of resistance during the time of slavery. An authors note highlights the vital role of literacy and education toward the securing of freedom, both historically and to the present day.