Formerly enslaved people often needed literate allies to transcribe their words.

Evidence

Restless, a woman gazes out a window coated with winter frost. She absently runs her fingers across the condensation on the glass, then turns to address a young reverend seated at a creaky writing desk. … I know it’s much to ask, Reverend Potter, still, I’d like you to write down what I say, just as I say it, but more proper-like. I got the words, but not the learning to place ‘em on paper. — Nikole Hannah-Jones et al., The 1619 Project, 673

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the broader 1619 Project framing arc and to literacy-as-liberty material, plus the tradition of amanuensis-composed fugitive narratives (e.g. Douglass being encouraged to keep his own words).