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Photo archive: Asheville Messenger
bend
fall
rise
snap
from the diaphragm
![Two lines of a music staff with treble clefs and lyrics but no music notes. The lyrics read: [Verse 1.] I am a man. / Etch this script - ture a - round my bo - dy. [Verse 2.] Risk un - char - tered: / Re - write Flesh.](https://aboutplacejournal.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/music.png)
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Fugitive Slave Act of 1793
SEC.3. And be it also enacted, That when a person held to labor in any
of the United States, or in either of the Territories on the Northwest or
South of the river Ohio, under the laws thereof, shall escape into any
other part of the said States or Territory, the person to whom such
labor or service may be due, his agent or attorney, is hereby empowered
to seize or arrest such fugitive from labor, and to take him or her before any
Judge of the Circuit or District Courts of the United States etc. …
And be it also enacted, that Sam’s judge, Allah, shall part the Ohio river.
Under the laws of Allah We shall excavate diminished Territories.
Under the laws of Allah We shall quilt black laws in the South.
Under the laws of Allah We shall traffic futuristic chants:
A-kri-eeeeeeeee in the North
And be it also enacted, that persons held to labor
in any part of the United States are hereby
empowered. The time has come. Exist.
Mid-1800s article or advertisement with a small icon of a person walking with a bindle (knapsack on a stick). Some words have been crossed out with black marker, herein labeled “[redacted]”. The remaining text reads:
COMMITTED. [redacted] a [redacted] man, [redacted] his name is S A M . [redacted] about 24 years old, about 5 feet 6 or 7 inches high, of a dark brown color, straight and well made, and has the evidence on his back that he has been severely whipped. He [redacted] is a free man, [redacted] Cleaveland County, N. C., raised him. The owner, [redacted] will [redacted] pay [redacted] he will be dealt with as the law directs [redacted] Feb. 3, 1848. 388—tf.
[treble clef and 5 staff lines with no music notes]
1. I am a man.
2. Risk un - char - tered:
[treble clef and 5 staff lines with no music notes]
Etch this script - ture a – round my bo – dy.
Re - write Flesh.
Note for readers: The numbers indicate verses; so the lines should be read in the following order: [Verse 1.] I am a man. / Etch this script – ture a – round my bo – dy. [Verse 2.] Risk un – char – tered: / Re – write Flesh.