“Ghosts of Amistad: In the Footsteps of the Rebels,” directed by Tony Buba and produced by Marcus Rediker, is based on Rediker’s book, The Amistad Rebellion: An Atlantic Odyssey of Slavery and Freedom (Penguin 2012). The film chronicles a journey to Sierra Leone in 2013 to visit the home villages of the rebels who captured the slave schooner “Amistad” in 1839, to interview elders about local memory of the incident through the oral tradition, and to search for the long-lost ruins of Lomboko, the slave trading factory where the cruel transatlantic voyage began. The filmmakers rely on the knowledge of villagers, fishermen, and truck drivers to recover a lost history from below in the struggle against slavery and to restore the popular memory of the Atlantic slave trade. For more information, including a video archive of out-takes, visit the film’s website: https://www.ghostsofamistad.com/.
Published by Meadow Dibble
Meadow Dibble, Ph.D. is a writer, researcher, and antiracist historical recovery advocate working to surface New England's suppressed narratives through her practice Public History & Education Consulting LLC. In 2018 she founded Atlantic Black Box, a grassroots public history project that empowers communities throughout the Northeast to take up the critical work of researching and reckoning with the region’s complicity in the slave trade and the global economy of enslavement. Meadow serves as Project Lead on the Place Justice Project for the Permanent Commission on the Status of Racial, Indigenous, and Tribal Populations. View all posts by Meadow Dibble
I was very intrigued with the Cape Cod history Meadow is uncovering when I heard an interview with her on WOMR. Since we moved to the Cape from Africa 20 yrs ago, I’ve been very surprised by the many connections between the Cape and West Africa. I can’t wait to learn more!
Thanks for your interest, Amy. I just announced an upcoming talk that might interest you: https://atlanticblackbox.com/2020/11/17/event-the-diseased-ship-new-england-sea-captains-and-the-slave-trade-thursday-11-19/ Hope to see you there!