Sold Me A Slave a ballad by Bob Clark
Venture Smith – Broteer
1730, Born in Dukandarra
In the Savannah of the west Africa
They named him Broteer he was a tender of sheep
When his world turned over by an army of thieves
He watched as his father was tortured and killed
Then put on a slave ship jam-packed-overfilled
Bought by an officer of the Rhode Island slaver for
4 kegs of rum and a small piece of linen
Spared from the smallpox that pillaged the boat
And brought to New England to a life with no hope
Stripped of his name and renamed Venture
He learned a lesson, don’t trust your owner
Beat many times, clubbed and was blamed
Brutally robbed, betrayed and then shamed
The time had come for him to seized the hour
Apply his great strength for bargaining power
Was purchase by Smith who treated him right
Gave him the means to buy back his life
Finally a free man he purchased some land
Worked as a sailor, all part of a plan
Fished and cut cordwood now his main mission
Was to buy back his wife and boys securing their freedom
Purchased more land now his money invested
A few short years he now had a 100 acres
Sacred to the memory of Venture Smith
Son of a king, kidnapped then sold
One out of 12 million African captives
Who crossed the Atlantic Ocean the middle passage
His story a view of the bitter fought battles
Of slavery, freedom and equality struggle
It came burning hot into my mind, How he flattered me
But how he lied When he got me there I wasn’t mine
Taken away Identity, Sold me a slave