I am Free.

Ona Judge, a runaway slave of George Washington’s.

Ona, a Mullato, was born of a slave that was owned by Martha Washington’s first husband, and whose father was an indentured slave. Ona’s father soon gained his freedom since he was indentured. But Ona or her mother could not.

After Martha’s first husband died, Ona and the rest of Martha’s first husband’s slaves were given to her. Upon marrying George Washington, Martha’s slaves belonged to him.

Ona ran away to her freedom after Washington was elected President. Ona married a free Black man and they had two daughters and a son. After Ona’s husband passed away, the struggle was hard, so she indentured her two daughters so that they would have food to eat.

Before Ona died, she was quoted in her story she told, that life was hard, but I am Free. The life she had chosen and was currently living, though hard it was, was far better than the life of a slave.

Life today is hard, having to work to earn meager paychecks. Then having to take those meager wages and make those pennies stretch to pay the bills. And what’s left, if any, is what you get to spend on yourself.

Even though the struggle is hard, the joy of waking up each day, deciding for yourself, your life, rather than someone else deciding it for you, is far better than government mandating and choosing what you do everyday.

Yes, you may have a job, and with that job, a boss, and that boss barks orders.

But here’s the real deal right here. You can fire that boss, and find you another boss. Or better yet, become a one man show ~ be your own boss. You may feel like you’re starving at times, like Ona. But like Ona, you’re free.

You decide ~ not a Socialized Federal government.