A richly illustrated study identifies the social, cultural, political, and economic factors that helped slaves from various regions of the African continent integrate their individual religions, artistic expressions, and languages into a rich and distinctive African-American culture, in a volume that includes contributions by Amiri Baraka, Gail Lumet Buckley, and Henry Louis Gates, Jr., among others.
Identifies the social, cultural, political, and economic factors that helped slaves from various regions of the African continent integrate their individual religions, artistic expressions, and languages into a distinctive African American culture.
Jubilee provides a clear-eyed chronicle of slavery and its enormous effect on our nation's history and economy, tracing the origin and development of the slave trade and the realities of life for Africans - slaves, runaways, and freedmen alike - in pre-Civil War America. The book also illustrates how the conditions of the "peculiar institution" were transformed into a vibrant, distinctively African-American culture, a complex and fascinating process of social, cultural, political, and economic change that embraces everything from language and religion to family life and self-expression. This stunning lesson in human adaptability shows how men and women with no rights - and often not even a language in common - nevertheless formed strong communities, melded African beliefs with Christianity to create a new, comforting, and joyous religious tradition, and survived deliberately dehumanizing oppression without ever surrendering their individuality.
Introduction by Winton Marsalis.
Slaves came to the Americas from many different parts of the African continent, bringing with them distinct languages, religions, and expressive arts. Jubilee shows the many ways that these diverse peoples united, forged their own identity, and laid the foundations for truly unique African-American social, cultural, political, and economic expressions throughout the Western Hemisphere.
Jubilee is written by Howard Dodson, chief of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture one of the most prominent institutions of black scholarship in the world. Essays by leading voices in African-American history and literature, including Henry Louis Gates, Jr., John Hope Franklin, Amiri Bakara, Annette Gordon-Reed, and Gail Buckley will explore topics such as abolition and emancipation, changes in family life and social development, religion, and the evolution of language, literacy, and education through the end of Reconstruction. This illuminating text is surrounded by more than 200 stunning illustrations, culled from the Schomburg s collection of more than 5 million items. From slave ship manifests, manumission papers, and some of the earliest photographs of slaves to carved items that echo African sculpture and freedom quilts with African motifs, the book is richly illustrated in an interactive way that brings to life this crucial transition from slavery to freedom.
