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Washington's Slave

from The Road to Freedom by Gary McGath

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lyrics

When Ona Judge was living on George Washington’s estate,
She couldn’t leave or quit her job, for slavery was her state.
But one day she decided she would be a slave no more.
When nobody was looking, she just walked out the door.

Refrain:
Far away, can you hear them?
Far away, far away and free.

She got onto a ship bound for New Hampshire to live free,
In Portsmouth she met people who believed in liberty,
Who said that freedom was for all, the dark ones and the light,
Who let her live the way she chose; that surely was her right.

Refrain

The President sent men up north to take his slave away,
But she would not be frightened, and she said that she would stay.
They never took her back, and she remained there all her life,
A slave by law, but truly a free woman and a wife.

Refrain

What can we say of Washington, who made our country free
Yet would not grant in his own house the right of liberty?
The answer isn’t easy, for both of them are true.
They’re both a part of what he was, of what he chose to do.

Refrain

credits

from The Road to Freedom, released March 29, 2022

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Gary McGath Boston, Massachusetts

New England filksinger.

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