“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 is founding Director of #AtlanticBlackBox and editor of The International Educator newspaper. Originally from Cape Cod, she lived for six years in Dakar, Senegal, where she published a cultural magazine from 1996–2000. Specializing in the literary expression of 20th-century liberation movements, Meadow received her PhD from Brown University’s Department of French Studies and taught at Colby College from 2005–08. She launched Atlantic Black Box in 2018 as a public history initiative devoted to researching and reckoning with New England’s role in the slave trade and recovering the stories of the region's free and enslaved communities of color. 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!
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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!
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