African Voices of the Atlantic Slave Trade : Beyond the Silence and the Shame

It's an awful story. It's an awful story. Why do you want to bring this up now'--Chief Awusa of Atorkor For centuries, the story of the Atlantic slave trade has been filtered through the eyes and records of white Europeans. In this watershed book, historian Anne C. Bailey focuses on memories of the trade from the African perspective. African chiefs and other elders in an area of southeastern Ghana-once famously called "the Old Slave Coast"--Share stories that reveal that Africans were traders as well as victims of the trade. Bailey argues that, like victims of trauma, many African societies now experience a fragmented view of their past that partially explains the blanket of silence and shame around the slave trade. Capturing scores of oral histories that were handed down through generations, Bailey finds that, although Africans were not equal partners with Europeans, even their partial involvement in the slave trade had devastating consequences on their history and identity. In this unprecedented and revelatory book, Bailey explores the delicate and fragmented nature of historical memory. From the Trade Paperback edition

The story of the Atlantic slave trade has largely been filtered through the records of white Europeans, but in this watershed book, Anne C. Bailey focuses on memories of the trade from the African perspective. African chiefs and other elders in an area of southeastern Ghana once famously called “the Old Slave Coast” share stories that reveal that Africans were both traders and victims of the trade. Though Africans were not equal partners with Europeans, their involvement had devastating consequences on their history and sense of identity.

Like trauma victims, many African societies experience a fragmented view of their past that partially explains the silence and shame around the slave trade. Capturing astonishing oral histories that were handed down through generations of storytellers, Bailey breaks this deafening silence and explores the delicate nature of historical memory in this rare, unprecedented book.

“Bailey offers a noteworthy, carefully researched contribution to the study of the African slave trade . . . [and] brings unheard historical voices to the fore.” —Publishers Weekly

“A remarkable effort to present the slave trade from a perspective very different from what we are used to—not that of slavery’s liberal opponents or even of the slaves themselves but of the Africans from whose midst the slaves were taken . . . Bailey is scrupulously objective in making her way through the resulting political minefield . . . People like Anne Bailey make us uncomfortable, which is all to the good.” —Daniel Lazare, The Nation

“A true work of retrieval and restoration . . . A remarkable gift.” —Ato Quayson, director, African Studies Centre, University of Cambridge, UK

Chapter 1: From the Middle Passage to Middle Quarters, Jamaica: The Transformation of a Personal Journey Chapter 2: The Incident at Atorkor: A Break with the Past Chapter 3: African Agency in the Atlantic Slave Trade: Realities and Perceptions Chapter 4: African Resistance: The Slave Who Whipt her mistress and Ganed Her Fredom and Other Oral and Written Tales Chapter 5: European and American Agency in the Atlantic Slave Trade: From Raid and Trade to Operational Breakdown Chapte r 6: The Social and Political Impact of the Atlantic Slave Trade on the Old Slave Coast. Chapter 7: Subversion of the Sacred: The Effects of the Atlantic Slave Trade on Anlo Ewe Religious OrganizationsChapter 8: Reparations as Rememory and Redress Acknowledgments Notes Bibliography Index. Bailey's interest in the oral history of her own Jamaican-born family led her to realize that many of her ancestors were probably slaves, but there was a definite silence and fragmentation when telling their stories. As she researched the perspective of slavery from the view of Africans left behind, she found that African involvement in the Atlantic slave trade as trader and as captive held devastating consequences, which resound in current-day families, organizations, and tribes In southern Ghana along the stretch of land off the Atlantic coast formerly known as the old Slave Coast, now known as Eweland, on many a night the striking rhythms of the drums can be heard from many miles away.