Who is Abdul Rahman?
Blood of a Prince, Life of a Slave
Taken
Abdul Rahman was a prince in Africa when one day on his way home from a battle he was captured by a rival tribe. They brought him and some of his men to the coast and sold him to slave traders in exchange for guns, gunpowder, tobacco and rum. He was taken across the Atlantic in the cargo hold of a slave ship then sold to a man named Thomas Foster for a few hundred pesos.
The Return
After a year on Thomas Fosters farm he escaped and was on the run for weeks. Eventually he came to grips with the fact that he had no food, no shelter and no place to run. He was also a religious man and believed that god had a plan for him. So after a few weeks on the run he returned willingly to the Foster farm. Normally slaves were forced to return to their owners and would be severely punished upon arrival for fleeing but because Abdul Rahman returned willingly Thomas Foster decided not to punish him.
Bittersweet Victory
When Abdul Rahman was old Thomas Foster finally decided that he would free Rahman, mainly because he was too old to do any real plantation work, on the condition that he return to Africa so he may not enjoy the freedoms the United States had to offer. Unfortunately this meant that he would have to leave his family. He eventually raised enough money to free his wife. They would spend the next few years campaigning to free their children.
Return Home
After months of campaigning they had to abandon the idea of liberating their kids so they decided to return home to Africa. He took a passenger ship with a comfortable cabin back to Africa but they only take him as far as Liberia. He stayed in Liberia for a few months then fell ill and died. He never made it all the way home.
Bibliography: Prince Among Slaves. Dr. Bill Duke & Andrea Kalin. PBS. 2008
Image URL: http://webfuuta.net/pas/alfa_abdul_rahman.jpg
