Mrs. Laura Smalley of, Hempstead, Texas, was interviewed by John Henry Faulk in1941on her recollection of slavery in the United States. Although she was a child slave, she has memories of slaves being whipped, Juneteenth, and blacks being kidnapped after freedom came. The story of her grandson being stolen is remarkable in that there was no help to had in recovering the child.
I can't imagine what it was like being a slave, but I do know what it was like in the Jim Crow south. Things are better, today, but we are still not there, yet
Clips in this video obtained from the following films: The Emperor Jones, 12 Years a Slave, Harriet, Freedom, Roots, and The Plantation System.
Original recording at the Library of Congress.