Transcripts For CSPAN3 Barracoon - The Story Of The Last Bla

Gained about africa tan. She has the pleasure also, of introducing our speaker for the hour. So let us welcome, her. Thank you very much. Good morning africatown. The spirit of our festival has been a seated by our ancestors its taking root like the baobab tree, under whom we are imparting knowledge about africatown to the world. I am proud to have served as the festivals inaugural speaker, and im equally proud to introduce my successor, doctor deborah, the story of the last black cargo. Doctor deborah plant is a African American literature scholar and literary critic, whose special interest is in the life and works of Zora Neale Hurston, the story of the last black cargo, she created what the New York Times says was a profound impact on Zora Neale Hurstons Literary History in publishing Zora Neale Hurstons account of the life story of clotilda survivor, an african town cofounder. Farrakhan one New York Times bestseller, time magazines best nonfiction look of 2018. And new york Public Libraries the spoke of 2018, among other accolades. She was instrumental in founding the u. S. F department of African Studies, and the department of its graduate program. She cheered for five, years and was associate professor of African Studies there until her appointment as associate professor of english in 2014. She holds a b. A. Degree in fine arts. An mma degree in french from atlanta university. And an mma as well as a ph. D. In english from the university of nebraska. Her published works include every time i sit on its own bottom, the philosophy of zuri hearst, in a biography of the spirit. The inside light. New critical insights on Zora Neale Hurston, and alice walker, it will mean for our times. Currently, the doctor resides in california, and continues her research as a scholar. Direct descendant, friends and family of africatown, please join me in extending this special africatown welcome to our kindred spirit, doctor deborah plant. One of the things that i like to do as i talk about the borough cone it invite the spirits to be with me as i do the best i can to represent them, and express what i think they would like for us to know. So i would also invite, i would like to invite you to invoke those ancestral spirits who will be with us today, during this event, and throughout the festival, so we will have their guidance as well as their inspiration and how things unfold. So this is the story Zora Neale Hurston was able to capture her story when he went out into the field back in 1927. On behalf of and kurt or she would send. Zora Neale Hurston as many of you might know was reared in eatonville florida, but she was born in alabama. And she went to school at howard university. She had a subsidy, she acquired her associate degree, and then transferred to Bernard College where she majored in english and after her matriculation steadied courses an anthropology and came to the attention of the father of american anthropology. At that time, she learned as much about anthropology as she did about writing, and the literature. As what her responsibilities, were what her tax tasks were was to collect folk, or to Archival Research on behalf of. Wooden woods in as we know is the father of black history month. So we look to him to thank him for black history month, but it started as black history week, and grew into black history month. Whitson was also the founder of the association for the study of knee grow life and history. On behalf of the association, and the journal of bleep history. He went down to alabama, to go to see him and ask him about the story of how he and his village had been destroyed. And this he had been forced into enslavement in alabama. So she did this. This is 1927 initially, she goes and gets the story from west africa, and how it destroyed the city. And she sends that report back to woods in. But she knew that there was more to the story. So she came back, so she came back the time she was able to spend with this person, several interviews, photographs, and things of that nature. [inaudible] that took time, that tech money. She had it. When she comes to see him, she says the first time that she met him was in july of 1927. When she comes back later in the year, and the summer, and then again in 1928, this is when she conducts a series of interviews and this is how she talks about it, it was summer, when i talk to him, his door was open. [inaudible] i knew he was somewhere in the house before i went to the yard. When he goes down to his back field while waiting for home, he locks his gait, with african invention. I called him by his african name as i walked up the steps of his porch. He was eating his breakfast around ten, with his hands in the fashion of the fatherland. He put his hand between pen and face. The tears of joy willed up. [inaudible] oh lord, i know when you come my name. Nobody calls mining from across the world are accept you. He says what is it that you want to know. The person tells him i want to know who you are, and how you came to be enslaved. How you fare as a slave. And how you have managed as a free man. What bowed and said when he lifted his face again he murmured, thank you jesus. Somebody is asking about me. Maybe they go in the african store. Theyre calling my name and someone there says yeah wolf i want you everywhere you go to tell everybody what i said, and why since 1859 i havent seen my people anymore. To understand me . Word by word, so wont be too crooked for me. My name is not when i get into american soil he tried calling my name. It was too long. I was like well are you proud of it . He said that works. But my mom, she named me kossola. So he tells her the story about his upbringing. About the rights of passage, and initiations, and learning how to hunt. Learning how to throw spears. He tells her about the young women in the village whom he sees and he likes, and he sees one in particular and he tells his parents to say when you see her, you be kind to her. What they do is that they are like ok we have to begin to prepare the assess initiation rites for marriage. Its during this time everything changes. This is, as he put it in a predawn raid, the amazon warriors stepped into the village and slaughtered so many. He and so many survived that slaughter. As they did, they were chained or tied together with others and marched down to the capital. Modern day benin. As they are held there, they are taken to the barracoon. Barracoon is a spanish word that has its roots in the terms that you see here. Basically, the words mean hut or shed. Describes these kind of structures were along the african coast. This is where captives would be held for those who waited for exchange for goods and materials what have you. They would wait there until the ships were docked. In relation to kossola and his compatriots, this was at that point in time when William Foster who was the captain of the clotilda had come where he was there to buy captives. And so we see africa there in the green to the right of the screen. Benin in white there. It was there he was taken. That is where William Foster navigated the clotilda. When it goes back, you can see the journey they took through the Middle Passage back to the coast of alabama. This map, my sister made this map. You wont find this map in any book. You see this white ship there, that symbolizes the clotilda. It went up to the point where they disembarked in the cane field. After that, you know the story wherein William Foster takes the boat and then he settles there to try to get rid of the evidence. Lets go to the next one. Timothy mayer and William Foster. I have given a lot of thoughts about barracoon and almost never has someone asked me about Timothy Meaher and William Foster. But i think we will talk a little bit about them because of what they represent. When we look at timothy who funded the clotilde expedition, he was one of three brothers with all kinds of businesses here in alabama. To have those businesses run, they used the labor of African People. And so we want to understand what that means and we want to understand why that is problematic. Theres nothing wrong with wealth. Theres nothing wrong with wanting to do well and be successful, but there is a problem when youre wealth and your success depends on the exploitation of the life force of other people. And this was their means and their method to come to their socalled success. What hurston learned in her interviews, was as she put it, she learned about the universal nature of greed and glory. This is the face of greed and glory. What is problematic, as i said, is when there is no end. When you think that access is normal and access is what you acquire because of your expectation of other people, then that is a problem. That is the greed aspect of it. The glory aspect of it is that for people like timothy, the idea was that that was his right to do that. It was his right as a man, it was his right as a white man. It was his right, as he believed, because as he and 70 others at that point in time and today, he believed it was his right because he believed that white was superior. The notion of White Supremacy is this idea of as a white man he was building a empire off box of white people. This is his glory. And this is his right he believes. This kind of arrogance. This kind of concede. This kind of self righteousness, that becomes a ideology that allows people to exploit anyone or everyone for their own benefit is a problem that we have to attend to. Its not all right. The thing about greed and glory is that its not particular to any particular group of people. The thing is that they couldnt do it they did without the support of king, and, they couldnt do it we have to look for that within ourselves. Where is the greed or glory in me. Where am i striving for something that is not my right, who am i taking advantage of to get to this point, to that point. Yes. This bet that made. Its another indication of the arrogance of the man. So it says that within two years, this is 1815, i can within two years bring a shipload of africans and force them into servitude. And nobody will be hanged for it. This is important. No one will be hanged for. It why is it still a concern . The u. S. Constitution in 1807 stated that International Travel should be banned. That going to africa and bargaining for people. Bringing them back and forcing them into servitude was no longer a practice that the United States would partaken. So it was illegal. That was 1807. And still from that point would continue this illegal practice. Even though that ban was put in place, it had not really been enforced. So in order to enforce it, the constitution was amended several more times. By 1820, in addition to penalties and monetary fines and funding expeditions buildings, outfitting for that purpose. In addition to that fine they added the penalty of branding you as a pirate. As this act of piracy, then you were to be hanged. But in over 50 years, only one man was ever hanged for all of the socalled illegal trafficking that was done in america. Even then, he said he had not done anything wrong. We hear that a lot. Timothy and foster, they took them to court. Timothys case was dismissed. William fosters case didnt make it, it was thrown out. So we have these examples of white arrogant men who believe they are above the law. We see why this is a problem and why we have to look at it because this is not new. We hear it today, but it is not new. The idea that you can do whatever you want to whomever you want. The fact is that they get away with it. [applause] this is part of our American Heritage that we have to do something about. This is not the america we want. This was the kind of constitutional act that bans trafficking. Which he did not adhere to, did not want to. The thing about it that the enforcement of the law is so difficult because so many people thought just like Timothy Meaher. The customs officers, senators and judges saw it just like this. There is so much in terms of this ideology. Like, this is what people learn. This is what people heard in church. This is what people heard in their social gatherings and groups. This is what the scientists are saying, that there is a master class, it is white people, and they are superior. Everyone else is inferior according to a hierarchy with africans at the bottom. And so it is their right to exploit, dominate. We see how problematic it is. The thing with this idea. We see how problematic it is. We see the destruction that its brought. The idea of White Supremacy is like the bottom line, the foundational problem out of which came the civil war. And that breach still a breach that we have to heal today. The idea of White Supremacy is an idea itself, that is inferior. And we have to do something about that. [applause] okay, William Foster, the captain, was equally arrogant. And very much a white supremacist. He wrote he wrote an essay or his wife rode it for him that basically detailed the whole journey. The whole thing from alabama to the on the west coast of africa. He told to where they tech. All this thing he lays it out in this letter. Why does he write a letter . He had heard that another captain had said that he had but the last illegal cargo to america. He wanted to know that it was he who had done it. He sent this letter to make sure that people knew he had done it. It was a point of pride, to defy the government. The federal government. And both of them. William and timothy were pirates. They were criminals. It doesnt look like it in the state of alabama, but they were criminals. And it doesnt matter that it was drawn out, the thing about it, in 1861 alabama succeeds from the union. But this was done in 1860. It was a good one. Okay, next one please. So because of that notion, that African People could be used as Something Like cattle, that is they could use us as the we were cows or horses, what have you. The idea that they could just go into africa, and bargain, and bring us over here to work and produce wealth for them. Bear with me a second. It resulted in so much suffering. I and kossola shared this with kirsten. He put it this way. He tells her in detail about the he says the folks that sleep, get away with the noise, i hear the gate when they break it. I hear the elle of soldiers. Therefore, i jump out of the bed. I see a great many soldiers with guns in their hands at midnight. Theyve got their weapons, they run with the big night, and make noise. They catch people, and southern neck like this with a knife. Then they twist their heads off, and it comes off the neck. Oh lord, lord, ive seen people get killed so fast. The old ones, they tried to run from the house, but theyre dead by the door. The women soldiers, got their head as well. Oh lord. When i think about those times, i try not to cry anymore. My eyes dont stop crying, but the tears running down when the men are with them, i called my moms name, i dont know where she is. I dont see my family. I begged the man to let me go find the folks. The soldiers say theyve got no ears for crying. So they tied me in the line with the rest. And so we see the disruption, and the chaos, and the trauma that people experience. When we look at whats kossola more experienced, you multiply that, and you get a sense of the pain that people have in their very bones. This pain, this grief, it simply means, uprooting being uprooted, taken away from everything that you know. He was calling for his number mother. I want my mother. Not only did he lose his mother. When they took him across the passage, he lost his mother tongue. Would i like to remind people when they are reading baritone, thats one of the reasons the book wasnt published. The publicist said we want your story, but we want you to write it and language rather than dialect. Now that means a lot of things, and we dont have that kind of time, but suffice it to say, you know that, first of all, when they say we wanted language, were talking about what they call standard english. But that is really the language of the establishment. And they dont want to hear it in his language. But it is his story. Why should it be in another language. And the thing about it that id like to remind you of is that this language that he wrote in, and her stan, she wrote, it transcribed it in the way he spoke, and she was supposed to do that. She was a ethnography. Or ethnography years know that language is a identifying feature of any person in a group and eight people. You dont change. That we knew change, language you change everything. When kossola was taken, he was 19 years old. These folks the question becomes how does this young man at 18 years old speak of some variation of winds up in album speaking a black vernacular with the alabama accent. Didnt speak this in west africa. So the question is what happened to him, that this is now the language that he speaks . And everything that happened to barracoon as both, kossola she shows us our [inaudible] and also shows us with the medicine is. And so the wounding is discreet, its a loss. The wounding is everything that he would never, ever, be able to see or experience. The loneliness. He lost so much when he was uprooted from the continent but also here in alabama. This is the wounding. And as he talksto hurston, he is grieving, full of grief still. Sometimes she had to leave him there and let him walk out and just be with his memories. They were so potent. It was like he was looking at the same actions that had occurred when he was on the continent. This deep grief is also part of our heritage. But as walker puts it, along with the wounding, he also shows us the medicine. What is the medicine . Next slide. The medicine. It is the fact that we are here. Not every ship that crossed the Middle Passage made it. Not everybody aboard those ships made it. Not everybody who experienced enslavement made it out enslavement. Not