Our clothes had been removed, so I could feel the heat coming off of all the bodies crammed around me in the small space. My journey to America was long and treacherous for many reasons. When the white men occasionally came below deck, they were uncivil and treated us like we were no more than lowly animals. What little food and water they did give us was stale and lukewarm. We sat in our own waste for weeks, breathing the horrible stench in, developing rashes, and catching diseases that killed many of us. Watching others get taken away when they were dead became a common sight for all of us. My heart swelled with anguish every time because I knew that they threw them overboard without giving a second thought, like they did with my beloved sister. A few times, I had to be carried above to get air because they wanted to keep me alive; a young man would be valuable and make the white men plenty of money. Those times were the only bearable parts of my voyage because I was able to see the bright blue
Our clothes had been removed, so I could feel the heat coming off of all the bodies crammed around me in the small space. My journey to America was long and treacherous for many reasons. When the white men occasionally came below deck, they were uncivil and treated us like we were no more than lowly animals. What little food and water they did give us was stale and lukewarm. We sat in our own waste for weeks, breathing the horrible stench in, developing rashes, and catching diseases that killed many of us. Watching others get taken away when they were dead became a common sight for all of us. My heart swelled with anguish every time because I knew that they threw them overboard without giving a second thought, like they did with my beloved sister. A few times, I had to be carried above to get air because they wanted to keep me alive; a young man would be valuable and make the white men plenty of money. Those times were the only bearable parts of my voyage because I was able to see the bright blue