Libertie is a young African American girl named after her late father's dream of freedom. Inheriting her father's dark skin, she grows up in relative privilege but struggles to form her own identity under the heavy expectations of her ambitious mother. She has a vivid inner world and prefers the creative satisfaction of music and poetry over the medical career her mother insists she pursue.

Cathy is a light-skinned African American doctor who defied intense societal prejudice to earn her medical degree. She runs a successful practice in New York and secretly helps escaped slaves travel along the Underground Railroad. Driven by the memory of her deceased husband and sister, she harbors fierce ambitions for her daughter to become her medical partner.

Emmanuel is a light-skinned Haitian man who comes to study medicine in the United States. He dreams of returning to Haiti to build a progressive, equal society for Black people. His soaring rhetoric and grand political ambitions captivate those around him, presenting a seemingly ideal alternative to American prejudice.

Ben is an escaped slave who arrives in New York seeking safety. He carries deep psychological scars from his enslavement and struggles to adapt to life as a free man. Haunted by the memory of his lost girlfriend, Daisy, he finds it difficult to embrace the successful life modeled by free African Americans in his new community.

Ella is Emmanuel's twin sister, who remains in Haiti while her brother travels to America. She harbors intense religious fervor and openly resents visitors to her home. Her hostile demeanor masks a painful personal history and a deep well of anger regarding her family's dynamic.

Experience is a music student at the college Libertie attends in Ohio. Born into slavery, she uses music to cope with her painful past. She maintains a reserved, distant demeanor compared to her more outgoing musical partner.

Louisa is a charismatic, outgoing music student studying to become a teacher. Like Experience, she is a former slave who finds agency and refuge in musical performance. She handles the social dynamics of the college with greater ease than her partner.

Ti Me is a Haitian woman who serves the Chase family and helped raise Emmanuel and Ella after their mother died. Relegated to the cooking shed, she maintains a strong connection to the vibrant local culture and traditional Vodoun spiritualism that the Chase family rejects.

Lenore is a nurse employed by Cathy Sampson. She assists in treating the local community and helps guide Libertie's early medical education by assigning her to care for the barn cats.

Elizabeth is Cathy's childhood friend who now lives in Philadelphia with her Haitian husband, Pierre. She actively works to help escaped slaves travel safely along the Underground Railroad.

Hannah is Ben Daisy's sister and an escaped slave. Upon arriving in New York, she is shocked by her brother's deteriorated state and fiercely blames the local community for failing to protect him.

Madeline is the dark-skinned, illiterate wife of law teacher Franklin Grady. She works long, hard hours to support her family, and her strength and self-sacrifice provide Libertie with a new perspective on resilience.

Franklin is a law teacher at the African American college Libertie attends. He is an old friend of Cathy Sampson, and local gossip suggests they were once romantically linked.

Bishop Chase is Emmanuel and Ella's father, a prominent religious figure in Haiti. He holds rigid, prejudiced views against the dark-skinned local population and attempts to recreate American racial hierarchies in his new homeland.

Lucien is the son of Elizabeth and Pierre. He travels with his mother and occasionally mocks Libertie's romantic interests as they grow older.

Robert was an escaped slave who died before his daughter was born. His lifelong pursuit of liberty inspired Libertie's name, and his absence leaves a profound mark on her childhood.