The C.O.W.S. Zora Neale Hurston’s Barracoon Part 2

The Context of White Supremacy hosts our second study session on Zora Neale Hurston's Barracoon. Born in 1891, Hurston was a writer and anthropologist who's cited as a legendary contributor to the Harlem Renaissance. She worked with anthropologists Franz Boaz and Margaret Mead, won a Guggenheim Fellowship,  and authored an impressive array of material, including her most popular title, Their Eyes Were Watching God. Although she died in 1960, she continues to contribute new works. Earlier this year, Hurston's Barracoon: The Story of the Last "Black Cargo," was finally released to the public. The book chronicles her 1927 interviews of Cudjo Lewis (Kossola), reported to be the last living survivor of the Middle Passage. Hurston uses the unique vernacular of Mr. Lewis to authentically share his voice and experiences of being stolen and terrorized. The first portion of the text features two introductions and a forward from Alice Walker. A great deal of time is invested emphasizing that Africans were not just victims of slavery. Walker's 2018 commentary and editor Deborah G. Plant's introduction both stress that African kings quarreled with other Africans and sold them off to Whites. The introductions also detail the importance Hurston attached to the unique dialog of Kossola. Her writing the book using Kossola's way of speaking was a major reason this book was not published for over six decades. #RacismIsTerrorism INVEST in The COWS - http://paypal.me/GusTRenegade CALL IN NUMBER: 641.715.3640 CODE 564943#