Henry Berry Lowrie was an outlaw, and everyone in his community knew it. The sheriff wanted him dead, but the people loved him. Why was he both loved and hated?
The Civil War was raging and Lowrie, like most Black or poor folks, was required to support the Confederate Army. This included doing anything the soldiers wanted or needed: giving up your home, feeding them, or even digging trenches for them. But what if you refused like Lowrie’s family did?
You could be beaten or killed, which is exactly what happened to Lowrie’s family.
With everyone but his cousins murdered, he vowed to take his revenge by robbing and killing as many Confederates as he could. But there was something else that motivated him.
While it’s true he did rob racists, it’s also true he used his gains to feed poor people and help them get the resources to fight against the Confederate abusers. He did everything he could to hurt the Confederacy. But was he ever caught?
No! He disappeared after a heist into the wilderness, and no one knows what happened to him. One thing is for sure: this Black Robin Hood inspires us to fight for liberation by any means necessary.