“A young man strives to escape from slavery in this blistering epic from Jackson (Operation Burning Candle), a novelist and civil rights activisit known for his contributions to the Black thriller genre of the 1960s and ’70s who died in 2012. . . . Jackson’s propulsive prose conveys Jubel's urgency and his Odyssean string of obstacles. . . . The steady supply of action and psychological insights makes this a knockout.” —Publishers Weekly

“Blyden Jackson’s For One Day of Freedom is a modest classic, fusing a scholar’s energy and an artist’s empathy. As he dramatizes the Southern plantation owner’s indifference to the feelings and souls of Black slaves, Jackson vividly portrays the daring and dignity of the enslaved. A page-turner that isn’t resolved until the very last sentence.” —Sidney Offit, curator emeritus, George Polk Awards in Journalism

* * *

After months of planning, Jubel prepares his escape. In two days, he will embark on a perilous journey to Canada to secure his freedom. And with the passing of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, there will be no safe place for him until he crosses the border. Determined to break the generational shackles—his own parents having been sold and split apart from each other—Jubel will learn the path by forging it, and then return to the Windsor Plantation for Missy, the love of his life. Missy, meanwhile, holds a terrible secret of her own.

To Robb Windsor, the youngest of the clan at twenty-two, Jubel is as much as a friend as he is a prize slave. They grew up together, bonded. Now Jubel must navigate not only the physical terrain of the swampland while being pursued by slave catcher Big Kit and his dogs but also the psychological battlefield of being hunted by his only boyhood friend.

On his run for “the Freedom,” Jubel will meet many characters—some in pursuit of their own liberation, others with far more nefarious intent. At every turn, from swampland to steamboat to the North, he will have to make split-second decisions on who he can trust, and for how long.

This posthumous release of Jackson’s third and final novel includes a foreword by Jane Clark Jackson and an afterword by Dr. Brandyn Adeo.

Blyden Brown Jackson Jr. (1936–2012) was a civil rights activist who served as a founder of the New Haven, Connecticut, chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) before founding and becoming chairman of the East River chapter of CORE, located in Harlem. In his life he was a husband and a father, a community organizer, a builder, a marine, an emergency medical technician, a coach, and a teacher, among a plethora of other titles. His previous books are the novels Operation Burning Candle and Totem. 

1. What does “the freedom” mean to Jubel? Freedom from what? Freedom to and for what?

2. What does freedom look like to you? Is there a radical liberation that you want to live into?

3. How do the steamboats and brothels described in the novel have similar class structures to the plantation?

4. Describe examples of how hatred, classism and racism are parts of daily living for the people in the novel.

5. Do you see any difference in the lives of the enslaved persons who work in the Big House and those who work in the fields?

6. In the book, how were dogs and even poor white children taught to see enslaved persons as the enemy, and how were they expected to treat them?

7. What does enslavement do to white people? How does classism determine how wealthy white people treat poor white people within the structure that allows people to accept that they can only take on people below their level?

8. Poor whites are described as living on a subsistence level. What means were available to them to earn extra money?

9. Why was Robb so angry at Jubel and personally affronted by his escape, to the point that he would pursue him himself even at the important time of harvest? What kind of friendship could they have had if he “owned” Jubel? Why prevents Robb from accepting that Jubel does not want to be back to the plantation?

10. Do you see examples of the kind of desperation that led Jubel to escape his life on the plantation and head into the unknown for the hope of something better, in today’s world?

11. What would motivate the helpers that Jubel meets on his journey, causing them to risk their own safety and wellbeing to aid him, a stranger to them?

12. What do you think of the role of Abigail, Robb’s wife?

13. Could the patrollers and slave catchers be seen as precursors to the police officers in the South in years following the Civil War? Do you see reminders of their actions in the treatment of people of color today?

14. Do you think Jubel goes back for Missy? What would motivate him to do that? Would you do it, given the same scenario?

15. If Jubel does go back for Missy and is successful, do you think he will do it again?

Links to Information about the author, Blyden B. Jackson, Jr.

Blyden’s Activities in N.Y. CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) in the 1960’s:

• N.Y, City CORE Chapter pickets outside the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem

• May, 1964 New York Times article on CORE’s picketing of NY Plumbers’ Union for discrimination 

• Article on School Boycott by NY CORE, January, 1964

• East River CORE’s militant activities in Harlem, NY

• The Blocking of the Triborough Bridge by CORE members, March, 1964

• The Military Discipline of the Civil Rights Movement

Links to Resources on Blyden’s Writing

• New York Public Radio Interview with Blyden Jackson on Operation Burning Candle, May 4, 1974. 

• Mel Watkins Review of Blyden’s first novel, Operation Burning Candle, in The New York Times Book Review, February 17, 1974

• Adam Langer essay from The New York Times, July 6, 2020, about radical Black thrillers 

• Publishers Weekly review of For One Day of Freedom, December 2021

• A discussion of For One Day of Freedom (June 5, 2022), featuring Pavi Mehta as facilitator, Jane Jackson, Blyden’s wife, Aaron Jackson, Blyden’s son, Gabriel Levinson, publisher, and Brandyn Heppard, writer of the book’s afterword

Historical Resources for For One Day of Freedom

The following links provide background information on the historical timing of the novel.

• On July 5, 1852, African American abolitionist Frederick Douglass gave this speech on the meaning of the 4th of July for enslaved people. The speech was delivered to hundreds of people in Rochester, New York’s Corinthian Hall, as organized by the Rochester Ladies’ Anti-Slavery Sewing Society.

• The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was a milestone towards the Civil War. It required that African Americans who managed to flee to free states be returned to enslavement and specified that anyone who helped them was breaking the law and could be prosecuted.

• The 1619 Project is an ongoing initiative of The New York Times that began on the 400th anniversary of the beginning of American slavery in 2019. It strives to relook at American history by placing the repercussions of slavery and the contributions made by Black Americans at the forefront of the national narrative of the United States

• Utilizing the Transatlantic Slave Trade Database to teach about slave trade through voyages

• A link to several online resources on slavery in America

• A lesson plan on covert and overt resistance to slavery by enslaved persons

• A lesson plan on Harriet Tubman and The Underground Railroad

• A glimpse at childhood slavery from the perspectives of two young women

• Harlem’s Schomburg Center celebrates the history and culture of the Black experience

• A history of steamboats, the popular form of transportation before trains, cars and airplanes

• The Quaker campaign to end slavery

• An introduction to resource guides on Slavery in America through the Library of Congress

• A look at the role of white women in slavery

• The contribution of poor white women to the plantation society

• Historical overview of the slavery experience looking at men, women, and gender

• The New Jersey Amistad Commission, which ensures that public schools in New Jersey integrate the history and contributions of African Americans into their curriculums

• The Rokeby Museum whose mission is to share the stories of the Robinson family’s anti-slavery work

• from Digital History:

  • A brief overview of slavery in the United States

  • Resources for teachers on the topics of slavery in the United States

  • An overview of pre-Civil War era United States

  • Resources for teachers on pre-Civil War era United States

  • Recommended websites for information on the pre-Civil War era

No events scheduled at this time. 

Is your book club discussing For One Day of Freedom? Send us an email and we'll post about it here!

Classrooms, institutions, and book clubs: Please email sales [at] foronedayoffreedom [dot] com for special discounts on bulk purchases.

All other inquiries, please email info [at] foronedayoffreedom [dot] com.