Barracoon: The Story of the Last "Black Cargo"
In 1927, Zora Neale Hurston went to Plateau, Alabama, just outside Mobile, to interview eighty-six-year-old Cudjo Lewis, the only person alive to tell the story of this integral part of the nation’s history. Based on those interviews, featuring Cudjo’s unique vernacular, and written from Hurston’s perspective with the compassion and singular style ...show more
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This is the story of Kossola Lewis, the elder, and vignettes from Zora Neale Hurston, the student interviewer. Lewis was extracted violently from his home among the vast Yoruba villages, locked in a barracoon or pen with fellow captives, and trafficked to Mobile, Alabama in 1860. Enslaved for 5 years and 6 months, his request to be sent back to Africa is denied. He and his fellow trafficked shipmates work to build Africa where they are. We are i...read more
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