WEBVTT

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"They say B's house
had so many wings

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it looked like a sleeping hawk.

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They say a family of
white folks built it.

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Enough verandas for
everyone to have

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a secret view of the
place, each railing

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painted to match
the trees so you

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felt you were
stepping on clear air

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when you went out there with
your mug of morning tea.

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The white folks kept a
library of pine seeds

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in the cellar and gardening
books on stands in the hall.

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But something happened.

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They got into their wagon
and said, take care of this

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till we get back,
which is the only way,

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they say, a man like
B could get a house

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with so many grand
porches on every floor.

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They say, Blacks weren't
meant to look down

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on the world from a
height, except, B did.

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So you start to think
of the land as his book.

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He wrote what he wished.

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To locate B, you must learn
to move in two directions.

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Find the war, and begin to pace
the decades forward, then back.

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Carry on your person the
Hotchkiss map of the zone

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you're searching plus
a handwritten list

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of relatives' names under the
heading, 'Cloud of Witnesses.'

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If you reach your mother
in her red raincoat,

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if you can hear her
calling you from the woods,

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you've gone too far.

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Start again from the depot.

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A train will transport you
to 1870, the next census

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after the war, but
you won't be permitted

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to disembark unless B appears.

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To be honest with you,
no one in this county

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has ever disembarked at 1870.

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Witness the platform for
that year covered in wasps.

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You'll have to start
again from the depot,

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and walk until you reach
the 1850 slave schedule.

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Here, you'll first
glimpse Old Master

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on a wooden bench
surrounded by the members

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of his white and
Black households

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in various states of service.

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We advised you to carry your
'cloud of witnesses' precisely

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for moments like this.

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Some names will repeat
over multiple persons,

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while others have
no names at all.

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You have only to lay your 'cloud
of witnesses' over the scene

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and wait for a match.

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Any shape you see
could be yours.

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"In Manassas."

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Where did you say
you were staying,

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asks the man dressed as
a Confederate general.

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You hadn't said, actually.

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I heard you were looking for
family, the general continues.

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We care a great deal
here about family.

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Me too, you finally say.

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I'd like to know
what happened here.

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Oh, you're sure to do
that, says the general,

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if only you stay long enough.

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You feel this cannot be
denied, so you try a question.

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What can you tell
me about the freed

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people who lived around here?

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Oh, the general answers.

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Brushing fluff from his
coat, we're all free here.

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I'm free.

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You're free.

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How do you know
I'm free, you ask.

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You must be, says the general,
or you wouldn't have come here.

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You don't think that proves
it at all, however, you go on.

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And how do you know
that you're free?

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To begin with,
says the general, I

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belong to certain organizations.

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Organizations for which you
must prove your pedigree.

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I couldn't wear this
uniform without proving it.

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You grant that?

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I suppose so, you say.

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Well then, you see, a free man
belongs to the organizations

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of his ancestors.

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And his ancestors
always belonged

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to certain organizations.

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Now, I know all my
ancestors, and I belong

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to certain organizations.

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Therefore, I'm a free man.

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I think you're very lucky
to know all your ancestors,

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you say, but not
everyone is so lucky.

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Call it what you like,
says the general.

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