African Voices of the Atlantic Slave Trade: Beyond the Silence and the ShameIt's an awful story. It's an awful story. Why do you want to bring this up now'--Chief Awusa of Atorkor For centuries, the story of the Atlantic slave trade has been filtered through the eyes and records of white Europeans. In this watershed book, historian Anne C. Bailey focuses on memories of the trade from the African perspective. African chiefs and other elders in an area of southeastern Ghana-once famously called "the Old Slave Coast"--Share stories that reveal that Africans were traders as well as victims of the trade. Bailey argues that, like victims of trauma, many African societies now experience a fragmented view of their past that partially explains the blanket of silence and shame around the slave trade. Capturing scores of oral histories that were handed down through generations, Bailey finds that, although Africans were not equal partners with Europeans, even their partial involvement in the slave trade had devastating consequences on their history and identity. In this unprecedented and revelatory book, Bailey explores the delicate and fragmented nature of historical memory. From the Trade Paperback edition |
Other editions - View all
African Voices of the Atlantic Slave Trade: Beyond the Silence and the Shame Anne Bailey Limited preview - 2005 |
African Voices of the Atlantic Slave Trade: Beyond the Silence and the Shame Anne Bailey No preview available - 2006 |
African Voices of the Atlantic Slave Trade: Beyond the Silence and the Shame Anne Bailey No preview available - 2006 |
Common terms and phrases
abolition Accra activities African agency African American African Diaspora African Squadron African traders Akwamu Amenumey ancestors Anlo coast Anlo Ewe Asante Atlantic slave trade Atorkor incident Bono Manso Brinch British Cape Coast captain capture cargo Carstensen chapter Christian clan colonial continent cult Danes Danish discussion drummers drums efforts Ethnicity Europe European and American Eweland ex-slaves example fact Fort Prinzenstein forts and castles fragmented Furthermore Gender Geraldo de Lima Ghana Gold Coast groups Ibid impact important Inikori Interview involved issue Jamaica Keta kidnapping land Liverpool London Mawu memory Middle Passage missionaries narrative nations Ndorkutsu nineteenth century Notsie Nyigbla oral histories paramount chief period plantations political Prinzenstein question records religion religious reparations resistance role says sell silence slave ships slavery Social Change sold story Svedstrup tion Togbui town traditional trokosi University Press Upper Slave Coast voyage Walvin West Africa Yewe