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Soul by Soul: Life Inside the Antebellum Slave Market

February 17, 2022 by Jim Potter 2 Comments

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(To  listen to the audio of this blog post, use the purple play button.)

 

Soul by Soul: Life Inside the Antebellum Slave Market

I’ve just completed reading the best book ever about understanding slavery. Soul by Soul: Life Inside the Antebellum Slave Market (1999) isn’t a new book, but it’s a classic.

The author, Walter Johnson, brilliantly examines the slave market in New Orleans, the largest in North America during the nineteenth-century.

Through exhaustive research using primary resources, Johnson shares the words of enslaved Africans or descendants of Africans, and the buyers and sellers of slaves, to give an incredible picture of what it was like to be a person involved in the slave trade.

Johnson takes the reader into the slave pens of New Orleans and shows the reader how enslaved people prepared to be purchased. We learn the tricks of the trade used by the slave trader. We understand the thinking of the would-be buyer. We feel the dread of the slave preparing to be sold, but we also learn of the manipulative tactics used by Black people to shape the sale to suit themselves.

I always knew that slavery was brutal and inhumane, but Soul by Soul helped me better understand the institution of slavery by hearing the voices of the participants. Now, I recognize how the buyers of slaves weren’t just using forced labor to become wealthy; it was also about their egos and dreams of rising in the Southern hierarchy, the social ladder, at the expense of others. It was about their need to be somebody.

Ironically, the more the white slaveowner purchased slaves in order to become economically independent and praised socially, the greater he was forced to rely on his enslaved workforce. (There were free Blacks who owned Black slaves, but that’s another story.)

Another important lesson I learned from Soul by Soul, was how the enslaved people of color were constantly resisting as they fought to survive both personally and as a community. Often, the slave became the master.

Jim Potter—author of Taking Back the Bullet: Trajectories of Self-Discovery

Until next time, happy writing and reading.

 

 

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  1. j alex potter says

    Intense time…

    Reply
    • Jim Potter says

      Unimaginable to me.

      Reply

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Karleen Wilson-Moon

Terrific story relevant to today’s social issues . . . well written . . . likable characters . . . insightful perspective from an insider in law enforcement.

Larry Kruckman, anthropologist

Jim Potter displays ethnographic skills in Taking Back the Bullet: Trajectories of Self-Discovery, creating vivid scenes and fascinating characters. The Greeks had a word for subcultures and people’s behavior: ‘ethos,’ or ‘ways of being.’ In colorful, sometimes marvelous detail, this novel captures various people and settings . . . the ethos of rural Kansas: a… Read more “Larry Kruckman, anthropologist”

Steve Becker

I’m impressed. It was an excellent read. . . . I hope you continue with more projects in the future.

Morgan Penner

Taking Back the Bullet is a novel that provides the reader with a window into the world of law enforcement. As the novel unfolds, the reader is able to see how split-second decisions alter the lives of the main characters in the story. Taking Back the Bullet also explores how humanity is impacted by mental… Read more “Morgan Penner”

Sean McArdle, Winchester, England

Retired police officer Potter’s novel centers on very disparate characters and through the tried and tested means of gradually introducing each one, builds a sense of anticipation about what is going to happen to them. This often used methodology is not easy to do well but is superbly handled by Potter who knows how to… Read more “Sean McArdle, Winchester, England”

Jane Holzrichter

I finished it last night around midnight. What a great piece of work. It kept me intrigued all the way to the end.

Deb Theis, LSCSW, clinical therapist/hypnotherapist

Jim Potter has done it again! After his book, Cop in the Classroom: Lessons I’ve Learned, Tales I’ve Told, Jim has written another great work. In Taking Back the Bullet: Trajectories of Self-Discovery, Jim Potter takes us on an insightful journey into the lives and relationships of numerous characters. Jim is such a talented storyteller… Read more “Deb Theis, LSCSW, clinical therapist/hypnotherapist”

Diana Dester

Good story line, building the characters along the way. Great job!

Wynona Winn, PhD, retired school superintendent

Three main characters walk different paths but with the same destination – each coping with his or her self-discovery, self-identity, and self-realization. Much like their earlier counterparts – Huck Finn and Holden Caulfield – their journeys are often joyous, often tedious and often tragic.

Judy Hawk

. . . I was impressed with the Native American information as well as the depth of character development . . . .

John & Cindy Morrill, 20 years Air Force retired, 17 years law enforcement

I enjoyed your book. When I am looking for a new read, I always read the first page, last page and choose a random page somewhere in the middle before I decide to buy it. You had me on all three pages. I also like reading a book where you can relate to the characters… Read more “John & Cindy Morrill, 20 years Air Force retired, 17 years law enforcement”

Sheryl Remar

I enjoyed the different stories of this book because Tom, James, and Suanna, the three main characters, represent in their own way the different struggles with themselves and society’s idea of what is normal.

Rebecca Schillaci

As a former law enforcement officer, I found the story very relatable as it details the life of a law enforcement officer and the struggles some face throughout their careers. . . Taking Back the Bullet is a journey of understanding, respect, and forgiveness . . .

Dennis Perrin, educator

Masterful storytelling, exquisite character development, so real as to HURT and HOPE, a real page turner. Begs for stage, screenwriters, and visual episodic development a.k.a. TV series . . . Thanks Jim Potter for telling it like it is AND providing us visions of how it could be. Well done!

Rebecca from Proud Police Wife

Taking Back the Bullet is an emotional, yet captivating novel. Jim Potter does a superb job of intertwining each character and putting their individual identities on display. All law enforcement storylines are a true reflection of Potter’s years as a police officer because they are realistic and relatable. This is a book I highly recommend.

Denise Low, author of Jackalope (Red Mountain Press)

Jim Potter is a cop, retired, but he brings deep understanding of this job to his novel Taking Back the Bullet: Trajectories of Self-Discovery. This layered novel has literary dimensions as characters explore crisis situations. Congratulations to this fine writer for his debut novel.

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