sweet auburn | 2024 volume II account of her life so interesting . She was a child , and she didn ’ t know she was enslaved .
JW : Until her mother died .
FS : Yes — when she was six . And I started thinking about the liberation her mother created for her — a kind of internal liberation — and how powerful that was to have .... There was this short period of time when she was just thinking about the land , her mother , the things they would do every day , what they would eat . So , that ’ s what I ’ m focusing on in my book — her childhood , her relationship with her mother , and her time in this domestic sphere .
JW : It ’ s also possible that there will be some children who will read your book who , just like Harriet , lost their parent ( s ) at a young age .
FS : Yes . Grief and death are things we ’ re told not to talk about with kids . But they ’ re already living it . They know it ’ s happening . This project is about Harriet Jacobs but it ’ s also about bringing kids to a Cemetery and talking about what Cemeteries are for and what role they play in people ’ s lives .
JW : Have you found in your work with young people that they are more open or receptive to talking about difficult things ?
FS : I think they ’ re grateful for the opportunity . Just today , at the garden I work at , we buried a rabbit . And all the kids seemed grateful to have the opportunity to be kind to this rabbit , to leave it flowers , and ask people to step over the place it was buried . Whenever we can facilitate those opportunities for children , I think they feel a little more liberated .
JW : There ’ s grief about so many things when you ’ re growing up . You lost your favorite toy , or you changed schools and had to leave your friends and your favorite teacher —
FS : Or you moved out of your childhood home . Or your body changed . They ’ re feeling all of these things and recognizing that they ’ re happening , but they don ’ t necessarily have the language to express it — and we can help with that .
JW : What do you hope children , educators , and parents will take away from this book ?
FS : One way the book can be a useful tool beyond something that teaches us about the history of Harriet Jacobs is that it ’ s a tool for bringing young people to the Cemetery . I want it to be a participatory experience . Let ’ s read this book in our classroom and then take a field trip to Mount Auburn . It creates an automatic tie to a place right here in Boston where you can bring your young person or your student to a space that helps to break some of the silence and fear around death and dying . Let ’ s not be afraid . Let ’ s feel love , compassion , and curiosity instead . We can liberate children by speaking to them about grief .... Art can create an opportunity for that , and it can start by saying , “ let ’ s read this poem together .”
To read the full interview with Fatima , please visit www . mountauburn . org
Illustration by Fatima Seck
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