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7)Exhibit A: My dear Great-great-great grandmother Emma hired a lawyer, after my Great-great-great grandfather Sandy died, to fight for her widow’s pension. Because they initially misspelled Sandy’s surname as Willis, the federal government used that as an excuse to drag out the process for years. The heart and soul of Die Free is based in large part on Emma’s humble depositions. If you read closely, she pretty much details most of her life with Sandy, her dashing veteran husband, who she married “right in the white folks house”. The personal punch in the gut is ‘her mark’ aka signature; she was forced to sign her name with an “X” because slaves were kept illiterate. Haunting.

8)Prior to Sandy Wills’ death, he filed an ‘oath of identity’ with the federal government to state emphatically that he was the identical person to Sandy Willis in the United States Colored Troops. Government officials pretended the document didn’t exist and put his widow, Emma, through a circus-like atmosphere, anyway.

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To contact Cheryl, please visit www.cherylwills.tv

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