Sylviane Anna Diouf

On July 8, 149 years ago, 110 young people disembarked from the slave ship Clotilda. It may appear paradoxical, but at a time when there seems to be too few around, I truly believe that they and other victims of the slave trade and slavery are role models for all ages. Our pain and revolt at the sheer horror of what they endured, and at the poisonous legacy of the slave trade and slavery that need to be addressed and redressed, should not overshadow their accomplishments. (more…)

A simple and beautiful love story from slavery times. Robert Solomon's father had been brought to the South during the illegal slave trade. Solomon spoke his father's language and since he was born in 1864 and may have lived into the 1950s this is another example of African Americans speaking an African language less than 50 years ago, just as was the case with some of the children of the Clotilda Africans.

"My father was African.... My mother was a Cherokee Indian. Her name was Alice Gamage. I was born in 1864... [M]y father stole my mother one night. He couldn't understand them and he was afraid of her people.... When I got up any size I (more…)