Teaching about the Atlantic Slave Trade and Reparations

TEACHING ABOUT THE ATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE AND REPARATIONS Manu Herbstein. Ama, A Story of the Atlantic Slave Trade. New York: E-Reads, 2001. Distributed by E-Reads, 171 East 74th St., New York, N.Y. 10021. Online at http://www.ereads.com. Supported by a Web site, http://www.ama.africatoday.com/. $15.37 at http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1585869325/ama-20/1041818852-6958338. Paper. Winner of the Commonwealth Writer's Prize for the best first book, 2002. Who are you, homo sapiens? is a question that resonates through a history colored by cruelty. When historians try to formulate the meaning of the human past, what is their conclusion about the Atlantic slave trade? We know that millions died in Africa and at sea during thirty-five thousand slave voyages; three hundred to six hundred shackled humans were crammed into the stinking bowels of slave ships. The numbers alone are numbing. But can historians think about human lives in terms of numbers, let alone describe the pathos of individual lives? How can historians describe the mysterious loss of a daughter, son, father, or mother? How can historians persuade students that they should not only feel this overwhelming sadness, but also carry these feelings beyond the conclusion of a college course? Historical fiction may help. This review essay describes the result of a project on the Atlantic slave trade and the question of reparations that I carried on in a semester-long history of Africa class for advanced undergraduates, in this case thirteen male and seventeen female students from ethnically diverse backgrounds.The course focused on Ama, A Story of the Atlantic Slave Trade, which is available both in hard copy and online. As a supplement to Ama, I used primary and secondary sources: David Dennard's Historiography of Reparations (SERSAS fall 2001 conference, Oct. 13, 2001); The Middle Passage (an HBO, Kreol, and Raphia film); Ali A. Mazrui's Global Africa: From Abolitionists to Reparationists (African Studies Revieiu 37:3, Dec. 1994); selected speeches from the Millions for Reparations rally (N'COBRA, Washington, B.C., Aug. 17, 2002); and Congressman John Conyers's proposed legislation to investigate federal government involvement in slavery (101st Congress, 1st Session, H.R. 3745 [often referred to as H.R. 40 to recall Forty Acres and a Mule]). To assist students, I also provided a glossary, character list, and several maps, the latter created using Rand McNally's splendid New Millennium World Atlas Deluxe software. These are all available on the Web at http://www.ama.africatoday.com. Ama, who is the eponymous heroine acting among historical characters and events, introduced the difficult issues raised in the project. All students agreed that Ama gave them entry into the mind and heart of a courageous female slave. Ama became their sister, their universal family member-we are all Africans; she touched them. Ama chronicles the tribulations of a young girl who was born in the late eighteenth-century in what is now northern Ghana. Originally named Nandzi, she is enslaved by Africans, renamed Ama (Saturday) by her Asante masters, and sold to Europeans

Ancient history · Anger · Atlantic slave trade · Criminology · Cruelty · Sadness · Sociology · Aging, Elder Care, and Social Issues · Health, Medicine and Society · Hermeneutics and Narrative Identity · History · Psychology