Recently I was on the bus in Cleveland and while getting on, since it was so hot, I had just walked up a hill, and my blood pressure problems- I must have looked like I was about to faint (and I probably would have, had it been a little hotter and walking a little further uphill)- Concerned, a black gentleman inquired if I was going to be alright and in a serious (albeit a little funny- in a way), got ready to call an ambulance if I needed one. This led to a conversation about the long wait for medical attention in Cleveland.
How the conversation segwayed into the next topic I will never remember but, he began to speak about how many African Americans are racist against Americans with white skin. This led me and how I hate, at times, to apologize for those ignorant in my race, not that I do this all the but certain situations, embarrassed by the things someone has done or said to and about others not like themselves; but something else he spoke about during the conversation stayed with me- especially as I read Hidden Cargo, by Robin Llyod.
He told me that when he speaks with other African Americans and they seem to convey that all white people are racist- he reminds them that, long ago, when there was a fight to see slavery abolished, many white people had to help along the way, for this to even be done. And, that I was reminded of this, that there are other whites like me, who don’t judge a person based on anything other than the person they are, the actions they take and the decisions they make- that these whites were here hundreds of years ago with these attitudes- Hidden Cargo is a book about one such person and his story, a Lieutenant Everett Townsend, who fought in the Civil War, in the Navy- all so that slavery would be ended, something he had witnessed firsthand, in his own family (albeit not one he was a part of), on his grandmothers sugar plantation in the Cuban countryside.
He had visited once, as a boy and what he had witnessed, these atrocities that he saw, changed his life forever. His mother also left Cuba, and the plantation, not just because of slavery, but for the mother who wanted to take her daughter's future for her own (a horrific story readers will be amazed by). Townsend’s grandmother and all readers learn, once he travels to the prosperous sugar plantation, that she is a hideous woman who cares for no one other than herself. But, when she tells her grandson a story, about how the slaves revolted on her family long ago, killing everyone and she was left all alone- while readers can understand where some of her hatred comes from, acknowledged, that she couldn't understand the reasons why a slave would want to revolt- for one, the loss of their family, when a slave owner decides that, for one reason or another, their slaves need to be sold- colors the narcissistic personality she prides herself for.
Before Townsend finds his way back to the sugar plantation in Cuba, a place he never thought to return to, he meets a black man named Jacob who, despite being freed now that the war is over, is looking for his sons, who have disappeared. Townsend suspects that they, like many other African Americans after the Civil War, have been kidnapped and re-sold into slavery- now in Cuba. The American government seems concerned about these kidnappings, when Townsend finds the remains of African Americans locked in a cargo hold of a ship that wrecked. Instead of freeing these men, as the others on the ship should have done, these the men were locked in and left to die. Townsend is determined to find out who has done these, left these men to die and who is kidnapping freed slaves, only to sell them again into slavery -in Cuba.
That is the only thing that would have brought Townsend back to the plantation his mother fled from, warning her son his whole life to stay away from the atrocity of slavery and her mother (his grandmother). And when Townsend spends time with his grandmother and learns of the things she has done to her daughter, his mother and many of the slaves on the plantation (some, who he finds out, are family)- he knows why his mother cursed her own mothers name, every time it was mentioned.
However the one thing they must watch for is that Jacob, in traveling with Townsend to Cuba and that he can easily be kidnapped there and taken into slavery. The country is very corrupt. To ensure this does not happen, the American government pays the Cuban government a $1,000 bond. Regardless if the money is paid or not, if Jacob’s two sons, who were sold before the emancipation proclamation and Civil War was won, may be there, Jacob will go- to the ends of the earth if he has to. As the last thing Jacob promised his wife before she died- that his boys would be found, that they would be together and free.
One day when his grandmother dies, the prosperous sugar plantation that could make Townsend a rich and powerful man does not matter- the fact remains that, if he had lived in a country that promoted slavery (Cuba), after he fought with his life to end it (in America’s Civil War), he would lose all respect for himself.
Also, the woman Townsend desires, Emma, a Cuban American daughter of a boarding house owner, is uncertain of her feelings for Townsend, until she finds out the truth of who he is and the passion he has for the freedom of all people. This is one that she shares and fights for. However, that she fights for a free Cuba while residing in Cuba- gets her into a lot of trouble. But with Townsend’s status as the grandson of a large prosperous plantation, along with his Navy position, with a lot of twisting of the truth- maybe, in the end, it will save them both and win her heart. In the meantime, Townsend has managed to free Emma from a terrible fate for her participation in crimes against the Cuban government- that is, saying anything that would change what the country is like.
Hidden Cargo is a book I hated to finish as I wanted to keep reading about Townsend and his adventures as long as I could. I only hope that Robin Lloyd finds another debacle for him to unravel as I loved the heart and soul of this character- the fight he puts up for those who can’t fight, necessarily, as well as he can, for themselves.
Happy Reading!
How the conversation segwayed into the next topic I will never remember but, he began to speak about how many African Americans are racist against Americans with white skin. This led me and how I hate, at times, to apologize for those ignorant in my race, not that I do this all the but certain situations, embarrassed by the things someone has done or said to and about others not like themselves; but something else he spoke about during the conversation stayed with me- especially as I read Hidden Cargo, by Robin Llyod.
He told me that when he speaks with other African Americans and they seem to convey that all white people are racist- he reminds them that, long ago, when there was a fight to see slavery abolished, many white people had to help along the way, for this to even be done. And, that I was reminded of this, that there are other whites like me, who don’t judge a person based on anything other than the person they are, the actions they take and the decisions they make- that these whites were here hundreds of years ago with these attitudes- Hidden Cargo is a book about one such person and his story, a Lieutenant Everett Townsend, who fought in the Civil War, in the Navy- all so that slavery would be ended, something he had witnessed firsthand, in his own family (albeit not one he was a part of), on his grandmothers sugar plantation in the Cuban countryside.
He had visited once, as a boy and what he had witnessed, these atrocities that he saw, changed his life forever. His mother also left Cuba, and the plantation, not just because of slavery, but for the mother who wanted to take her daughter's future for her own (a horrific story readers will be amazed by). Townsend’s grandmother and all readers learn, once he travels to the prosperous sugar plantation, that she is a hideous woman who cares for no one other than herself. But, when she tells her grandson a story, about how the slaves revolted on her family long ago, killing everyone and she was left all alone- while readers can understand where some of her hatred comes from, acknowledged, that she couldn't understand the reasons why a slave would want to revolt- for one, the loss of their family, when a slave owner decides that, for one reason or another, their slaves need to be sold- colors the narcissistic personality she prides herself for.
Before Townsend finds his way back to the sugar plantation in Cuba, a place he never thought to return to, he meets a black man named Jacob who, despite being freed now that the war is over, is looking for his sons, who have disappeared. Townsend suspects that they, like many other African Americans after the Civil War, have been kidnapped and re-sold into slavery- now in Cuba. The American government seems concerned about these kidnappings, when Townsend finds the remains of African Americans locked in a cargo hold of a ship that wrecked. Instead of freeing these men, as the others on the ship should have done, these the men were locked in and left to die. Townsend is determined to find out who has done these, left these men to die and who is kidnapping freed slaves, only to sell them again into slavery -in Cuba.
That is the only thing that would have brought Townsend back to the plantation his mother fled from, warning her son his whole life to stay away from the atrocity of slavery and her mother (his grandmother). And when Townsend spends time with his grandmother and learns of the things she has done to her daughter, his mother and many of the slaves on the plantation (some, who he finds out, are family)- he knows why his mother cursed her own mothers name, every time it was mentioned.
However the one thing they must watch for is that Jacob, in traveling with Townsend to Cuba and that he can easily be kidnapped there and taken into slavery. The country is very corrupt. To ensure this does not happen, the American government pays the Cuban government a $1,000 bond. Regardless if the money is paid or not, if Jacob’s two sons, who were sold before the emancipation proclamation and Civil War was won, may be there, Jacob will go- to the ends of the earth if he has to. As the last thing Jacob promised his wife before she died- that his boys would be found, that they would be together and free.
One day when his grandmother dies, the prosperous sugar plantation that could make Townsend a rich and powerful man does not matter- the fact remains that, if he had lived in a country that promoted slavery (Cuba), after he fought with his life to end it (in America’s Civil War), he would lose all respect for himself.
Also, the woman Townsend desires, Emma, a Cuban American daughter of a boarding house owner, is uncertain of her feelings for Townsend, until she finds out the truth of who he is and the passion he has for the freedom of all people. This is one that she shares and fights for. However, that she fights for a free Cuba while residing in Cuba- gets her into a lot of trouble. But with Townsend’s status as the grandson of a large prosperous plantation, along with his Navy position, with a lot of twisting of the truth- maybe, in the end, it will save them both and win her heart. In the meantime, Townsend has managed to free Emma from a terrible fate for her participation in crimes against the Cuban government- that is, saying anything that would change what the country is like.
Hidden Cargo is a book I hated to finish as I wanted to keep reading about Townsend and his adventures as long as I could. I only hope that Robin Lloyd finds another debacle for him to unravel as I loved the heart and soul of this character- the fight he puts up for those who can’t fight, necessarily, as well as he can, for themselves.
Happy Reading!