In what ways could African Americans empower themselves in the antebellum United States?

I know that they used autobiographies...but I am not even sure if I understand the question!!!

Since this is not my area of expertise, I searched Google under the key words "antebellum United States African Americans" to get these possible sources:

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/aaohtml/exhibit/aopart2.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_slavery_in_the_United_States
http://www.loc.gov/rr/mss/guide/african.html

I hope this helps. Thanks for asking.