This Is Why Listening To Your Elders’ Stories Matter

via Wikimedia

PushBlack
June 17, 2019

Born into slavery in 1841, Magee lived his early life at the mercy of the Lone Star Plantation in Covington County, Mississippi. 

Under his master’s command he transported weapons for Confederate armsmen during the Civil War. But in 1863, Sylvester’s story took a surprising turn. 

He ultimately fought on BOTH sides of the war after escaping and enlisting in the Union army with more than 382 other Black soldiers! 

After the war, Magee returned to the only work he had ever known - hard manual farm labor. Still, he was returning to the South a freedman with a rich oral history that made up for his illiterate status. 

Many still refuse to believe Magee wasn’t exaggerating his own truth.  

But University of Southern Mississippi associate history professor, Max Grivno, is urging those who hear this elder’s story to suspend their doubts and imagine the struggles of Black life during his time.

"He was trying to tell stories about [B]lack landowners in South Mississippi being pushed off their land,” Grivno points out to USA Today reporters.  

Keeping our elders’ life stories preserved in written and digital formats allows Black history to be passed down, studied, and respected for generations to come - just like the incredible legacy of Sylvester Magee continues to be. 

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