Resistance to Slavery

Enslaved people had few rights and suffered unspeakable hardships under slavery. Since the very beginning of the practice of slavery, enslaved people fought back against their mistreatment. They resisted through rebellions, escape, and through acts in their everyday lives, such as learning how to read. Learn about the many forms of resistance, key figures of rebellions and the Underground Railroad, and how resistance led to the rise of the abolitionist movement and beyond. Read Woke Books are created in partnership with Cicely Lewis, the Read Woke librarian. Inspired by a belief that knowledge is power, Read Woke Books seek to amplify the voices of people of the global majority (people who are of African, Arab, Asian, and Latin American descent and identify as not white), provide information about groups that have been disenfranchised, share perspectives of people who have been underrepresented or oppressed, challenge social norms and disrupt the status quo, and encourage readers to take action in their community.