Book Review: Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo”

Hurston, Z. N., Plant, D., & Walker, A. (2018). Barracoon: The story of the last “Black cargo” (First edition.). New York, NY: Amistad. 171 pages.

              In Barracoon, Zora Neale Hurston creates a sacred space where Oluwale Kossola, the last known African survivor of the Middle Passage, comes to life in the magic and timelessness of his words. Herein, Hurston respectfully grants Kossola’s last wish: “I want tellee somebody who I is, so maybe dey go in de Afficky soil some day and callee my name and somebody der say, ‘Yeah, I know Kossula’’’ (Hurston, et al., 2018, p. 19). Reared in the all-Black town of Eatonville, Florida, Hurston radiated from that culturally rich center to become an author, playwright, novelist, and folklorist known worldwide for such literary works as Their Eyes Were Watching God (Hurston, 1991). Creatively and compassionately, she captures Kossola’s story placing him center stage to describe his separation from his homeland, recount his quest for freedom, and illustrate the triumph of enduring traditions.

            How did Kossola from Bante’, West Africa come to be Cudjo Lewis in Africatown (Plateau, Alabama)? Unraveling the story of his life between two worlds (West Africa and North America), Kossola begins by honoring his ancestors and framing his life in his rootedness as a young Isha Yoruba soldier whose name means “my children do not die anymore” (Hurston, et al., p. xv). Envisioning himself as more than the sum of his experiences of chattel slavery in America, Kossola painstakingly explains who he really is and where his story begins.

            Hurston’s ethnographic research is a noticeable strength of this work. Kossola’s primary account of his capture, his subsequent incarceration in the Barracoon (barracks used for temporary confinement of slaves) at the Bight of Benin, his fear of the ocean, and his horrific enslavement makes the reader feel a connection to him. While the details of his abduction at the hands of the Fon female Dahomean warriors are troubling, Kossola calmly retells the painful experiences of the Maafa, (a Kiswahili word meaning disaster that signifies the enslavement of Africans in the Americas) (Ani, 1989). Daniel Black’s The Coming similarly investigates the Middle Passage (Black, 2015). Both works place Africans at the center of the story while underscoring their strength and resilience. The Amistad Mutiny, the Denmark Vesey Revolt, and the Stono Rebellion are just a few examples of Africans claiming their destiny and embracing their freedom through revolutionary acts (Rediker, 2013; Robertson, 2009; Wood,1996). Even though Barracoon provides details of what Kossola endured, it does not bear retelling here because the overarching narrative is the triumph of the human spirit.

            After five years of enslavement, when freedom finally comes, Kossola and his friends attempt to raise enough money to return to Africa. When that failed, they establish Africatown, a settlement for formerly enslaved Africans just outside of Plateau, Alabama. Kossola finds happiness in building community and raising his family in Africatown. However, he also encounters great loss. The theme of resilience is prominent here. Yet, Kossola is not wearied by life. He is triumphant in it. He becomes a keeper of the culture and continues the African tradition of Griot (a Master teacher, storyteller, and keeper of an African tradition).

           In Barracoon, one of Kossola’s (also called Cudjo) countrymen, Ole Charlie, asked him to tell him a parable (a simple yet complex story used to teach a lesson, to share a truth, or to illustrate a virtue). This exchange demonstrates Kossola’s mastery of the oral tradition as every word is emblazoned with representative poetry, power, and presence.

 Ole Charlie, he de oldest one come from Afficky, came one Sunday after my wife lef’ me and say...Uncle Cudjo, make us a parable.

“Den I axed dem, ‘How many limbs God give de body so it kin be active?’

“Dey say six; two arms two feet two eyes.

“I say dey cut off de feet, he got hands to ‘fend hisself. Dey cut off de hands he wiggle out de way when he see danger come. But when he lose de eye, den he can’t see nothin’ come upon him. He finish. My boys is my feet. My daughter is my hands. My wife she my eye. She left, Cudjo finish.” (p. 99)

           Powerfully retelling Kossola’s experiences, this parable is a peace offering that signifies his fortitude in the face of hard trials. He is stolen from his homeland, enslaved in the Americas, and emancipated to a life of Jim Crow servitude for survival in a strange country. In spite of rebuilding, there is more loss, more grief. Everyone he loves is gone. Yet, even in his loneliness, albeit solitude, Kossola finds solace in the “home” he has built-in Africatown and entertains the people with the power of the Spoken Word. Kossola’s stories are in good hands with Hurston who refuses to compromise their integrity by transcribing them from their original form. She understands their power.

           Words represent connections. Kossola's African language (Yoruba) blends to form a Creole similar to those explained in Lorenzo Dow Turner's Africanisms in the Gullah Dialect (Turner, 1969). Listening to the audio version of the text underscores the lyricism of Kossola's language which mirrors the folkways of the Gullah Geechee of the South Carolina Lowcountry. Turner (1969) recounts that the language of the Africans who were stolen from their homeland and sold in America is just one example of Africanisms that represent African continuity and enduring traditions.

            In the final analysis, Barracoon is life-changing work that highlights man’s inhumanity to man while also teaching resiliency. Additionally, Barracoon provides context for teaching about the establishment of maroon societies like Africatown and Hurston's own Eatonville. Kossola's storytelling and Hurston’s skill in orature are inspiring because the story is very rich yet unembellished except with the power of language. Barracoon is required reading that celebrates the triumph of the human spirit.  

Annette Teasdell, MA. teaches courses in the Departments of Africana Studies, Women's and Gender Studies, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte

 References

Ani, M. (1989). Let the circle be unbroken: The implications of African spirituality in the diaspora. Trenton, NJ: Red Sea Press.

Black, D. (2015). The coming: A novel. New York, NY: Macmillan.

Hurston, Z. N., Plant, D., & Walker, A. (2018). Barracoon: The story of the last “Black cargo” (First edition.). New York, NY: Amistad.

Hurston, Z. N. (1997). Dust tracks on a road. Thorndike, ME: G.K. Hall.

Hurston, Z. N. (1991). Their eyes were watching God. Chicago, IL: University of Illinois Press.

Rediker, M. (2013). The Amistad rebellion: An Atlantic odyssey of slavery and freedom. New York, NY: Penguin.

Turner, L. D. (1969). Africanisms in the Gullah dialect. The American Negro, his history and literature [Series]. United Kingdom: Reaktion Books.

Wood, P. H. (1996). Black majority: Negroes in colonial South Carolina from 1670 through the Stono rebellion. New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company.