Editing Slave narrative (section)

===Tales of religious redemption===
From the 1770s to the 1820s, slave narratives generally gave an account of a spiritual journey leading to Christian redemption. The authors usually characterized themselves as Africans rather than slaves, as most were born in Africa.

Examples include:
* [[Ukawsaw Gronniosaw]], ''A Narrative of the Most Remarkable Particulars in the Life of James Albert "Ukawsaw Gronniosaw", an African Prince'', [[Bath, England]], 1772
* [[Olaudah Equiano]], ''[[The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano]]'', [[London]], 1789
* [[Venture Smith]], ''A Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Venture, a Native of Africa: But Resident Above Sixty Years in the United States of America'', [[New London, Connecticut|New London]], 1798
* [[Jeffrey Brace]], ''The Blind African Slave, Or Memoirs of Boyrereau Brinch, Nicknamed Jeffrey Brace'', as told to Benjamin F. Prentiss, Esq., [[St. Albans (town), Vermont|St. Albans, Vermont]], 1810;<ref>[http://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/brinch/menu.html "Boyrereau Brinch and Benjamin F. Prentiss (Benjamin Franklin), 1774 or 5-1817"], ''Documenting the South'', [[University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill]], Retrieved March 4, 2013.</ref> edited and with an introduction by Kari J. Winter, Madison, WI: [[University of Wisconsin Press]], 2004, {{ISBN|0-299-20140-6}}<ref>[http://www.sevendaysvt.com/features/2005/takenabackinvermo.html "Taken Aback in Vermont], ''[[Seven Days (newspaper)|Seven Days]]'', July 6, 2005.</ref>
* [[John Jea]], ''The Life, History, and Unparalleled Sufferings of John Jea, the African Preacher'', 1811
* [[Greensbury Washington Offley]], ''A Narrative of the Life and Labors of the Rev. G. W. Offley, a Colored Man, Local Preacher and Missionary'', 1859

Some more recent narratives, such as [[Petro Kilekwa]]'s ''Slave Boy to Priest: The Autobiography of Padre Petro Kilekwa'' (1937), followed a similar theme.

====Islamic slave narratives====
By contrast, some slave narratives demonstrate the resiliency of Muslim spiritual identity while enslaved by Christian masters. These narratives tend to highlight the civilised, often aristocratic and scholarly background of their subjects, to emphasise their respectability and defy efforts at racial [[dehumanisation]]; and similarly, also tend to discuss their subjects' African Islamic (usually [[Fulani]]) background, to demonstrate that they have a civilisation of their own (in contrast to Christian redemption narratives, who answer racist dehumanisation by having black people achieve redemption through white Christians). 

The slave narratives of [[Ayuba Suleiman Diallo]] are one such example. Educated as an [[ulema|Islamic scholar]] in the [[Fulani]] state of [[Futa Toro]], Diallo was captured and sold to the [[Royal Africa Company]] in 1730, and thereafter brought to [[Maryland]] as a slave. During his enslavement, Diallo continued to practice Islam; and his aristocratic blood, education, literacy in multiple languages, and cultivated manner impressed elite audiences in America and Britain, challenging efforts to dehumanise him and his race. He was freed and returned to his homeland in 1734. [[James Oglethorpe]] - once governor of the [[Royal Africa Company]] - was moved by Diallo's suffering; and when he founded [[Trustee Georgia|Georgia]], he introduced a ban on slavery in 1735 (known popularly as the [[Georgia Experiment]]).
Two contemporary slave narratives of Diallo's life exist: a biography by [[Thomas Bluett]], titled ''Some Memories of the Life of Job, the Son of the Solomon''; and a firsthand memoir, within [[Francis Moore (geographer)|Francis Moore]]'s ''Travels Into the Inland Parts of Africa.''

Other examples include:
*[[Abdul Rahman Ibrahima Sori|Abdur-Rahman Ibrahim ibn Sori]] - a [[Fulani]] prince and [[ulema|Islamic scholar]] from [[Futa Djallon]], enslaved in 1788 on a tobacco plantation in Mississippi. His story caught the attention of abolitionist newspaper editor Andrew Marschalk, whose articles about ibn Sori gained national attention. In 1826, [[Abd al-Rahman of Morocco|Sultan Abdur-Rahman of Morocco]] petitioned for ibn Sori's freedom; and Secretary of State [[Henry Clay]] convinced President [[John Quincy Adams]] to free ibn Sori in 1829. His narrative (as published in Marschalk's articles) were also a boon to the [[American Colonization Society|American Colonisation Society]], and ibn Sori would live out the rest of his days in [[Liberia]]. His narrative was adapted into a PBS film - ''[[Prince Among Slaves]]'' - in 2007. 
*[[Omar ibn Said]] - a [[Fulani]] [[ulema|Islamic scholar]] from [[Futa Toro]], notable for his [[taqiyah]] (secret practice of Islam). He publicly presented as a Christian for much of his life; but his manuscripts including his autobiography - ''The life of Omar ben Saeed, called Morro, a [[Fulani|Fullah]] Slave in Fayetteville, N.C. Owned by Governor Owen'' (which opens with [[Al-Mulk|Surah al-Mulk]], contains passages praising [[Muhammad]], and interprets [[Jesus]] in ways that align with Islam) - either allude or outright reveal that he had kept his Islamic faith in secret. As with the previous examples, his multilingual education and scholastic credentials were an important part of his life and narrative - while enslaved, he also wrote texts on history and theology, some of which was in service to Christian missionaries in Africa. 
*[[Yarrow Mamout]]