Resilience, resistance, and resourcefulness ran through the veins of our enslaved ancestors. And many who didn’t take the Underground Railroad north towards Canada found a different route to freedom … they headed south towards Mexico.
The secret journey there was one engulfed in danger and risk.
Though there was arguably no Harriet Tubman, impoverished Tejanos (Mexicans in Texas) sometimes acted as conductors on the southern-bound railroad. With most of the enslaved fleeing Texas, the state was especially incensed by our ancestors’ defiance.
Once a Mexican colony, Texas fought for and won independence from the country, largely because Mexico outlawed slavery in 1829. By 1845, Texas would join the United States to maintain slavery’s abhorrent system, while the U.S. worked hard to keep enslaved people shackled.
So desperate to retrieve escaped “property” south of the border, the U.S. tried convincing Mexico to sign a fugitive slave treaty, wherein all escaped Black people would be returned back to the States.
Mexico flat-out refused. “All enslaved people are FREE when they land on Mexican soil,” was the sentiment.
Though the southern Underground Railroad was a bigger risk than taking the more-organized northern route, an estimated 5,000 to 10,000 enslaved Black folks risked it all for liberation.
Those are the kinds of risks we must continue to take as we fight for liberation, too.