The Calling: Nat Turner and the Virginia Slave Rebellion on August 21, 1831

Nearly two hundred years ago today, the enslaved African American preacher, Nathaniel “Nat” Turner , began a four day slave rebellion in Southampton County, Virginia. It is estimated that Turner and roughly 70 enslaved men killed at least 55 whites. In the aftermath of the insurrection, most of the men were captured, convicted, executed or sold to slave owners in other states.

Historians believe that before the Civil War, enslaved people organized over 300 rebellions. The consequences were harsh if caught, yet the enslaved individuals involved maintained a strong desire for freedom. Naturally slave owners become suspicious, and responded with terror. In the case of Nat Turner, more than 100 black people with no connection to the rebellion were killed by white mobs. States also began to enforce Slave Codes, which prevented slaves from assembling in groups, earning money, or learning how to read.

Nat Turner was 31 in November of 1831 when he was captured and hung by white Virginians for his radical rebellion.

Nat Turner was 31 in November of 1831 when he was captured and hung by white Virginians for his radical rebellion.

Research indicates that Turner was waiting on a “sign” from God before acting. On February 12, 1831 a solar eclipse appeared to him as “a black angel occulting a white one”, symbolizing black overcoming white. Tuner and his militia planned to proceed on the Fourth of July, but postponed as he fell ill. He waited for another sign. On August 13th he witnessed another solar eclipse: the second sign.

Nat’s religious and spiritual practices did much to influence his opinions on human behavior with respect to race, gender and class. Throughout the past century, Black American leaders have shifted their focus towards circles in education and entertainment, two products stemming from the institutional Black church. While their speech and demeanor may reflect the essence of a clergyman, the means by which they arrive to self-discovery and liberation include more than ecumenical services, prayer, good deeds and meditation, but also critical thinking, cross referencing, logic and reason, creative writing, and performing arts.


Bennett Jr., L. (1962). Ebony, 17(4), 81.

Carver Edwards, J. (2015). The Land Shall Be Deluged in Blood: A New History of the Nat Turner Revolt. Library Journal, 140(17), 99.

Lusted, M. A. (2016). The Call to Fight SLAVE REBELLIONS. Cobblestone, 37(9), 8

A Poem In Which No Black People Are Dead

A Poem In Which No Black People Are Dead

Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib

 

here, the bouquet of bullets

instead find a patch of fresh dirt

and just like that,

it is spring again.

in this poem, I speak of the grandmother

but not of time’s eager shadow

reaching for her legs.

instead, there is no ancestor

that cannot be touched

by a hand four generations younger.

in this poem, we weaponize joy.

gospel is sung during the week

without burying anyone,

because it is what the living demand.

no one dead looks like anyone’s child here,

because there is no one dead here.

there is no child who is not called a child,

even when they have sinned against the earth.

all of our heroes are still living,

their statues bronze and tall on street corners.

jamal from the barbershop. ms. rose who put her foot

in some fried chicken once, and ain’t never pulled it out.

here, no one asks for permission to celebrate their living

and so it is:

the night pulls back its black mask and gives way to more black.

the type that turns the speakers up loud and runs into the streets.

the type that don’t know how to act,

but ain’t here to impress nobody.

a whole city opens its cracked palms and holds the buzzing within.

in this poem, it sounds like a prayer.

not the hushed kind, but the one that arrives on the lips

after a lover trusts you with their undoing.

the kind that comes from a table

where the spades are up and the tea is sweet.

here, everyone black is a church that never burns.

everyone black is the fire themselves.

eternal light, blood still hot and never on the pavement.

if heaven is a place of no pain, let this be heaven.

here, the god of bulletproof rapture is washing a boy’s feet in the river.

the boy looks up, summons every black bird from its nest.

commands them to cover the sky.