Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo” - Zora Neale Hurston

This is a really hard book to review. Barracoon was initially written by Hurston in the 1930s based on interviews she conducted with Kossulo (renamed Cudjo Lewis following his freedom), abducted and forced onto the Clotilda, the last ship to carry enslaved people to the United States.

Hurston insisted on maintaining Kossulo's original dialect and vernacular, one of the reasons the piece was originally rejected for publication. In the afterward, many pages are devoted to analyzing a plagiarizing issue with Hurston's earlier articles about Kossulo, mainly that she lifted entire background passages from an un-cited work. Although not mentioned, this could also be problematic in getting this later work published. 

Kossulo's story is a sad and cruel one. A teenager in Africa, his tribe is attacked by another and he is sold into slavery in 1859, at a time when the international slave trade is supposed to be outlawed. The importing of enslaved peoples to America has been prohibited but three brothers and a ship captain have decided they will run the risk. Of course, they have no qualms about accepting enslaved peoples, but when they get to America, the market has become a little dry and the brothers and ship captain end up retaining most of their "cargo." 

Not much is said by Kossulo about the time he spent enslaved aside from the loading and unloading of river ships. He does recount the day he is told he is free. And it's a stark moment because there is no where to go and he's not quite sure what he should do. But he and some other men manage to work and save and buy some land together to make their own town. He eventually marries and has six children. 

And then, tragically, his six children are killed one by one. He also loses his wife and is left bereft and lonely in Africa Town, waiting, it seems, for someone to come and listen to his story and show an interest in the life he has led. And it is interesting, and devastating. There is little redemption in the story except to say that Kossulo persisted and tried to make a life for himself, but even a life after slavery was filled with hardship and loss. 

The story of Kossulo itself garners 4 stars. The forward pieces and afterward were long on words, but somehow short on information. What became of Kossulo? What else can be said about his family or Africa Town (Plateau, AL)? I think the style of non-fiction written by journalists has developed so much over the last almost 100 years, that this story is almost unrecognizable in its current format and it left me wanting so much more. 

So this story is so important because there are so few first hand narratives of actual enslaved people. And the Clotilda represents such a dark and reprehensible period of our country's history. But I wish there was more. I wish someone had advanced Hurston the capital and independence necessary to really get the whole of Kossulo's story.

4/5 Stars