Night Flyer, published in 2024, is a remarkable new Harriet Tubman biography written by award winning author Tiya Miles. Look her up. Ms. Miles’ point of view is that Harriet is easily written off and categorized as a superhero which makes her daring risks and rescues out of reach. Someone else couldn’t or wouldn’t do what she did.

Ms. Miles, an insightful researcher, did a deep dive into the historical records to uncover the authentic Harriet. What gave Harriet the courage to risk her life over and over, leading frightened slaves into the woods on dark, cold winter nights with slave catchers pursuing them?

Miles carefully examines the cultural context that informed Harriet’s actions: her family, her enslaved community, her traumas, her injuries, her spiritual influences, and her connection with nature. To understand the risks Harriet took, this is where you start.

Night Flyer reacquainted me with the suffering and brutality of slavery. Starting when she was just six years old, Harriet was taken away from her mother and leased out to nearby families for her labor. She was brutally beaten, yet stubbornly refused to meet the demands of her enslavers. Failing to perform her tasks, Harriet was eventually sent back to her mother. At a young age, Harriet learned to resist.

When she was just 13, Harriet suffered a traumatic brain injury when her head was crushed by a heavy weight thrown at another slave. Harriet stepped in between an overseer and the slave he was chasing. Her injury almost killed her and put Harriet in a coma for several weeks. Consequently, Harriet suffered from chronic seizures, black-outs and headaches the rest of her life. Eventually, she suffered from sleep disturbances.

Harriet paid close attention to the spells or visions she experienced as a result of her head injury. Harriet believed God gave her messages and guided her as she lead slaves to freedom. Sometimes she would intuitively change her route; something made her feel it was not safe to go as planned. She trusted her instincts as divine guidance and she was always right. She was confident in her spiritual life and it gave her direction and courage.

Harriet witnessed her sisters dragged away from their families and children and forced to join a brutal chain gang. The traumatic memory of her sister’s screams haunted Harriet the rest of her life. She never saw her sisters again. Harriet lived in constant fear that she or someone she loved would be sold and taken away.

Harriet was comfortable in the woods; she paid attention to the signs and signals in nature. She knew how to find direction in the stars at night; a common practice in the mid-1800.

Harriet was a strong, spiritual woman who was willing to resist her enslavers, knew how to navigate the woods in the dark, was terrified that she or someone she loved would be taken, and was confident in God’s guidance. Out of this context, Harriet lead slaves to freedom.

Miles wants her readers to examine what Harriet can teach us about living in dark times.

In her preface, Miles writes, “If we are now living in “the time of the seventh trouble,” as Tubman might well have deemed it, what route would she advise us to take through this wilderness?”

I had to look up what “seventh trouble” meant. It’s a biblical reference (Job 5:19) which essentially promises safety even if facing multiple hardships. The seventh trouble is the final hardship - or the end of hardships. We are promised ultimate protection. Harriet lived in this promise.

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