Barracoon: The Story of the Last "Black Cargo"

by Zora Neale Hurston

with the last known surviving African of the last American slaver—the Clotilda.

Though his father was not of royal heritage as Olu, which means “king” or “chief,”

Nevertheless, the Meahers were tried in the federal courts 1860–61 and fined heavily for bringing in the Africans.29

“Oh Lor’, I know it you call my name. Nobody don’t callee me my name from cross de water but you.

“We glad we free, but den, you unnerstand me, we cain stay wid de folks what own us no mo’. Derefo’ where we goin’ live, we doan know. Some de folks from cross de water dey done marry and got de wife and chillun, you unnerstand me. Cudjo not marry yet. In de Affica soil when de man gottee de wife, he build de house so dey live together and derefo’ de chillun come. So we want buildee de houses for ourselves, but we ain’ got no lan’. Where we goin’ buildee our houses?

“We meet together and we talk. We say we from cross de water so we go back where we come from. So we say we work in slavery five year and de six months for nothin’, now we work for money and gittee in de ship and go back to our country. We think Cap’n Meaher and Cap’n Foster dey ought take us back home. But we think we save money and buy de ticket ourselves. So we tell de women, ‘Now we all want go back home. Somebody tell us it take lot of money to keer us back in de Affica soil. Derefo’ we got to work hard and save de money.

“All these words from the seller, but not one word from the sold.

Of the thousands of Africans smuggled into America after 1808, only one man was held accountable and hanged, and even he died proclaiming his innocence.

The bonds the Africans created in the barracoons, on the ships, and in servitude were the source of their survival and resilience, and the foundation of their community.46

Maafa: Marimba Ani defines Maafa as a Ki-Swahili term that means disaster and the human response to it. The term refers to the disruption and uprooting of the lives of African peoples and the continuous commercial exploitation of the African continent—from the fifteenth century to the era of Western globalization.

From Africa to the Caribbean or North America could take two or three months.