Julie recognizes that the newly arrived Omar doesn’t comprehend what is about to happen to him. She plans to escape her kidnapper and return to the Owen plantation in Fayetteville, which seems like a better option than the uncertain future that awaits her at the market. The enslaved woman Julie has been kidnapped and dragged to the market for sale. The desperate prisoners, each of them with their own individual life stories, pray to survive their horrendous journey. Omar is shackled closely together with other prisoners in the cramped cargo hold of a slave ship. Warriors overrun the compound and begin taking people prisoner. Omar believes that Allah has a plan for him, but Fatima cautions him that the plan might not be what he anticipates.Ībdul discovers that he has been deceived and he warns his family to flee the coming raiders. Worried that his village will fall prey to the slavers pillaging the region, Omar's brother Abdul has been negotiating with them for the safety of his people. Omar’s mother Fatima, a spiritual matriarch of the village, leads the community in a prayer to Allah. In his peaceful village, Omar Ibn Said chants verses from the Quran. Scene One: 1806, Futa Toro (a region of West Africa now part of Senegal)
