Nonfiction | Genre Studies

Ain’t I A Mother: Motherhood as Freedom in ‘Underground’

I thought but for black women enslaved to have a child that you were responsible for that was really yours, that was really freedom. – Toni Morrison

I thought but for black women enslaved to have a child that you were responsible for that was really yours, that was really freedom. – Toni Morrison

WGN’s ‘Underground’

WGN’s ‘Underground’

That reality is slavery. It’s a reality where the only hopes for the child is whether or not he will be in the field or the house, whether or not he will be sold away or allowed to grow up under the care of his “parents,” and whether or not his desire for freedom will burn too hot that it costs him his life. These decisions rely solely in the master’s power as Seraphena has no rights nor claims to the child she’s just brought into the world. So rather than allow someone else to decide her child’s fate, Seraphena exerts a form of rebellion when she drowns her baby. 

Igbo Landing

WGN’s ‘Underground’

WGN’s ‘Underground’

WGN’s ‘Underground’

WGN’s ‘Underground’

WGN’s ‘Underground’

WGN’s ‘Underground’

La Rue Cases-Nègres

WGN’s ‘Underground’

WGN’s ‘Underground’ 

Beloved