Where did Lila go?
In a somber re-enactment of slavery in Missouri, Angela Da Silva, who heard many stories from her grandmothers about her own slave ancestors, did a re-enactment of a fictitious slave named Lila. “Master told her to stand on the table. White men looked her over. She was sold and never saw her family again. She took care of the new master’s children, sitting with them during their lessons and listening intently. At night while they slept, she taught herself how to write by forming letters in the ashes of the fireplace. “Don’t tell Massa I can read,” she said to the youngsters when they caught her looking at a newspaper. When the children grew up, Lila was assigned field work. She had two little girls of her own. One night when she came home from the fields, her children were missing. The old mammy said Massa had sent for them. “My heart fell out on the ground,” Lila said. “I went to Massa to ask where the girls were, and he just kept rocking in his chair and drinking, rocking and drinkin
