Her feet were blistered from the long walk to their new home.

But California was a free state, and she would soon join other residents as a free woman,

or so she thought, this is two-minute black history, what you didn't learn in Skrull.

After walking behind a 300-wagon caravan for 1,700 miles, where she was forced to perform

back-breaking labor each day, Vidy Mason finally arrived in California.

A free state, she'd waited a long time for freedom, unfortunately, it would not last.

She had arrived in California with her enslaver, Robert Smith.

He refused to release Mason and her three daughters, even in a free state.

Mason felt powerless.

What could she do?

After five years of illegal enslavement, Mason finally confronted Smith, demanding freedom,

but he was already planning to move his family and the people he called his property to Texas,

where slavery was legal, was freedom out of reach for Mason?

Mason begged a local, free black couple she'd befriended for help.

They called the sheriff, who confiscated Mason from Smith, as he was about to kidnap her

from California.

Mason sued Smith for her freedom and won, but her story doesn't end there.

Over the years, Mason used her wits and skills to become a businesswoman, and by the time

she died, was one of the wealthiest black women in America.

She used the money she amassed to help the poor, educate youth, and found the first AME

church in Los Angeles.

Like Mason, we can change our destinies and prosper with our skills, hard work, and

...