–By Sarah Fleming
“If I could put my finger on any part of (my ancestry), I would feel more complete.” These were the words of a descendant of the Africans brought to America in 1860 on the ship Clotilda. The Trans-Atlantic slave trade had been outlawed for 52 years, but a wealthy shipowner in Alabama made a barbaric bet that he could bring Africans to the United States without being detected.
Descendant, currently available on Netflix, tells the story of the Africatown, Alabama descendants of the Clotilda, the last slave ship to reach American shores and the first wreck of one ever found off the coast of the United States. It honors one of the last survivors, Cudjoe Lewis, whose story was preserved by Zora Neale Hurston in her book Barracoon.
After unloading the human cargo, the ship was burned in an attempt to hide the evidence of a crime. The Africans were sold and dispersed from the area. The Civil War ended just five years later, and the 30 or more of those now freed returned to the area of their first arrival, and founded what is now known as Africatown.
“They knew more about being free than about being a slave,” said another descendant of the Clotilda. The survivors of the Clotilda had known only a brief period of enslavement in their lives.
Oral history of these events persisted for generations, but was shared carefully since the Africans had been threatened with bodily harm if they talked about the crime. In recent years, there has been increased interest in the story and in searching for the Clotilda.
Descendant weaves together the human and historical threads to create a powerful and moving story of cruelty and survival.
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- Map of Cudjoe Lewis’ (Kazoola) capture in Africa, drawn in 1914
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- Bronze bust sculpture of Cudjoe Lewis, in front of the historic Union Missionary Baptist Church
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- Wreck of the Clotilda (unknown photographer, 1914)
Author: Sarah Tarr Fleming is a member of Coming to the Table, a mother, grandmother and retired psychotherapist. She lives in California. She is collecting information about her family’s history as enslavers to share with her own descendants and with those her family enslaved. She is also looking for ways to heal wounds through new relationships, memorials and reparations.
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