Barracoon: The Story of the Last "Black Cargo by Zora Neale Hurston

Barracoon: The Story of the Last "Black Cargo" by Zora Neale Hurston, tells the story of Kossula Lewis, kidnapped from West Africa in 1860, and interviewed by Hurston in the 1930s. Lewis, and the others from his ship, formed the nucleus of Africa Town, near Mobile Alabama (which still exists today).  

His memories mainly focus on like in Africa, and the collusion of fellow Africans who captured and sold Lewis to white slavers.  This is a part of the slave trade that is often not discussed: the active collusion of some Africans enslaving other Africans for profit.  This should not be a surprise; African were and are many people, and not one.  There was not a Pan-African sentiment.

The number of narratives such as this, where an African is captured, enslaved, and brought to America, can be counted on one hand.  Yet, the story of Lewis is the story of all Africans in America. Therefore, this work is vitally important; it gives a voice to millions were deprived of a voice.