Barracoon: A Must-Read for Black History Month and Beyond

Barracoon: A Must-Read for Black History Month and Beyond

New York Times BestsellerÂ â€¢Â Â TIME Magazineâ€™s Best Nonfiction Book of 2018Â â€¢Â New York Public Libraryâ€™s Best Book of 2018Â â€¢Â NPRâ€™s Book Concierge Best Book of 2018Â â€¢Â Economist Book of the YearÂ â€¢Â SELF.comâ€™s Best Books of 2018Â â€¢Â Audibleâ€™s Best of the YearÂ â€¢Â BookRiotâ€™s Best Audio Books of 2018Â â€¢Â The Atlanticâ€™s Books Briefing: History, ReconsideredÂ â€¢Â Atlanta Journal Constitution, Best Southern Books 2018Â Â â€¢Â The Christian Science Monitorâ€™s Best Books 2018Â â€¢Â â€œAÂ profound impact on Hurstonâ€™s literary legacy.â€â€”New York Timesâ€œOne of the greatest writers of our time.â€â€”Toni Morrisonâ€œZora Neale Hurstonâ€™s genius has once again produced a Maestrapiece.â€â€”Alice WalkerA major literary event: aÂ newly published work from the author of the American classic Their Eyes Were Watching God, with aÂ foreword from Pulitzer Prize-winning author Alice Walker,Â brilliantly illuminates the horror and injustices of slavery as it tells the true story of one of the last-known survivors of the Atlantic slave tradeâ€”abducted from Africa on the last "Black Cargo" ship to arrive in the United States.In 1927, Zora Neale Hurston went to Plateau, Alabama, just outside Mobile,Â to interview eighty-six-year-old Cudjo Lewis. Of the millions of men, women, and children transported from Africa to America as slaves, Cudjo was then the only person alive to tell the story of this integral part of the nationâ€™s history. Hurston was there to record Cudjoâ€™s firsthand account of the raid that led to his capture and bondage fifty years after the Atlantic slave trade was outlawed in the United States.In 1931, Hurston returned to Plateau, the African-centric community three miles from Mobile founded by Cudjo and other former slaves from his ship. Spending more than three months there, she talked in depth with Cudjo about the details of his life. During those weeks, the young writer and the elderly formerly enslaved man ate peaches and watermelon that grew in the backyard and talked about Cudjoâ€™s pastâ€”memories from his childhood in Africa, the horrors of being captured and held in a barracoon for selection by American slavers, the harrowing experience of the Middle Passage packed with more than 100 other souls aboard the Clotilda, and the years he spent in slavery until the end of the Civil War.Based on those interviews, featuring Cudjoâ€™s unique vernacular, and written from Hurstonâ€™s perspective with the compassion and singular style that have made her one of the preeminent American authors of the twentieth-century, BarracoonÂ masterfully illustratesÂ the tragedy of slavery and of one life forever defined by it. Offering insight into the pernicious legacy that continues to haunt us all, black and white, this poignant and powerful work is an invaluable contribution to our shared history and culture.
Country USA
Brand Amistad
Manufacturer Amistad
Binding Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate 2020-01-07
Format Kindle eBook

Country	USA
Brand	Amistad
Manufacturer	Amistad
Binding	Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate	2020-01-07
Format	Kindle eBook

Barracoon: A Must-Read for Black History Month and Beyond

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