'Barracoon' Tells The Story Of The Last Slave In First Person

Writer Zora Neale Hurston could have had her account of Oluale Kossola, believed to be the last known survivor of the Atlantic slave trade, published 87 years ago. But Hurston’s refusal to change the first-person narrative from Kossola’s dialect into traditional American English led publishers to pass on her manuscript.

Nearly nine decades later, and long after the deaths of both Kossola and Hurston, the book is out. “Barracoon,” released this week, is the story of a teenager who was stolen, shipped and sold into slavery in the U.S., who lived to see freedom and started a proud community of African-Americans that still exists today in Alabama. It’s a testament to Hurston’s journalistic and anthropological prowess — and a continuation of her powerful legacy as a writer.

The history of the slave trade and its effects are often mischaracterized and poorly taught. Can this book bring about a better understanding of the experience of people who were enslaved in America?

GUESTS

Dana Williams, Professor of African American literature; chair of the English department at Howard University; @DWill5

Deborah G. Plant, Editor, “Barracoon: The Story of the Last ‘Black Cargo'”

Michael Ralph, Professor, New York University; author “Forensics of Capital”

For more, visit https://the1a.org.

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