Berry added a voice to slave narratives indicating how slaves valued themselves, and if they understood their own commodification by including real names and stories of the enslaved. Berry highlighted this by introducing the concept of ‘soul value’, which is a value on slaves which “cannot be commodified” (Dr. Berry). Berry explained soul value as the basis for a slave’s ability to measure his own self-worth, and was the reason why many slaves disrupted their own auctions, attempted to free themselves, or even committed suicide. Dr. Berry’s soul value concept revolves around slaves’ abilities to take control of their lives, despite servitude. This provided an interesting vantage for me to see slaves beyond the context of property and built upon class readings because it demonstrated how slaves constantly attempted to find justice for themselves and thrived despite their
Berry added a voice to slave narratives indicating how slaves valued themselves, and if they understood their own commodification by including real names and stories of the enslaved. Berry highlighted this by introducing the concept of ‘soul value’, which is a value on slaves which “cannot be commodified” (Dr. Berry). Berry explained soul value as the basis for a slave’s ability to measure his own self-worth, and was the reason why many slaves disrupted their own auctions, attempted to free themselves, or even committed suicide. Dr. Berry’s soul value concept revolves around slaves’ abilities to take control of their lives, despite servitude. This provided an interesting vantage for me to see slaves beyond the context of property and built upon class readings because it demonstrated how slaves constantly attempted to find justice for themselves and thrived despite their