A review by skitch41
Barracoon: The Story of the Last "Black Cargo" by Zora Neale Hurston

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

3.5

At the dawn of the 20th century, historians, sociologists, and folklorists fanned out across the country to gather up the stories of people across America who had lived through dramatic times, particularly the Civil War. The narratives of formerly enslaved African-Americans were especially prized. In 1927, Zora Neale Hurston, not quite yet the author and oral historian people would remember her to be, interviewed an African by the name of Cudjo Lewis, who at the time was the last surviving African to be captured in Africa, sold into slavery, and shipped across the “Middle Passage” to America. Through these interviews, Ms. Hurston retells Cudjo Lewis’s life to modern readers in this fine, but short book.

For my full review, check out my book blog here.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Racism, and Violence