Author Description

How does a destitute, illiterate, enslaved man manage to bring his plea for freedom before the US Supreme Court? Speak Right On, a work of historical fiction, delves beneath the obvious answer--white friends who financed and encouraged Dred Scott's struggles--to the core truth: Scott's own powers of persuasion and storytelling. His great talent is to redraw his world. His portraits are colored with fables, folklore, and the fabulous history of his kin. His narrative encompasses ghost stories and love epics; memoirs and dreamscapes; a medical guide and a travel journal; and ultimately, a legal record that no history can ignore. Born a plantation slave in 1800, Dred is shielded in childhood by Gran, but not even Gran can protect him from the relentless losses and degradations slavery will exact. In 1846, when a new mistress threatens the unity of his family, Dred begins his undaunted pursuit of freedom under the doctrine "once free, always free." His court case survives tortuous defeats and challenges until the US Supreme Court declares in 1857 that the Scotts have no rights that society is obliged to respect. They are property. The decision is shattering, but it cannot shake Dred's resolve to protect his family and keep them together. How he and his wife, Harriet, manage to achieve their goals rounds out this incredible story. Dred Scott was a man who insisted on telling his own story, on speaking freely; who journeyed to define his own truth; who cried out to share it with all who would listen. That was his freedom, and he didn't require a court to help him find it.