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    Barracoon: The Story of the Last ""Black Cargo""
    Barracoon: The Story of the Last ""Black Cargo""
    Barracoon: The Story of the Last ""Black Cargo""
    Audiobook3 hours

    Barracoon: The Story of the Last ""Black Cargo""

    Written by Zora Neale Hurston

    Narrated by Robin Miles

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    A major literary event: a never-before-published work from the author of the American classic Their Eyes Were Watching God that brilliantly illuminates the horror and injustices of slavery as it tells the true story of one of the last known survivors of the Atlantic slave trade—abducted from Africa on the last ""Black Cargo"" ship to arrive in the United States.

    In 1927, Zora Neale Hurston went to Plateau, Alabama, just outside Mobile, to interview eighty-six-year-old Cudjo Lewis. Of the millions of men, women, and children transported from Africa to America as slaves, Cudjo was then the only person alive to tell the story of this integral part of the nation’s history. Hurston was there to record Cudjo’s firsthand account of the raid that led to his capture and bondage fifty years after the Atlantic slave trade was outlawed in the United States.

    In 1931, Hurston returned to Plateau, the African-centric community three miles from Mobile founded by Cudjo and other former slaves from his ship. Spending more than three months there, she talked in depth with Cudjo about the details of his life. During those weeks, the young writer and the elderly formerly enslaved man ate peaches and watermelon that grew in the backyard and talked about Cudjo’s past—memories from his childhood in Africa, the horrors of being captured and held in a barracoon for selection by American slavers, the harrowing experience of the Middle Passage packed with more than 100 other souls aboard the Clotilda, and the years he spent in slavery until the end of the Civil War.

    Based on those interviews, featuring Cudjo’s unique vernacular, and written from Hurston’s perspective with the compassion and singular style that have made her one of the preeminent American authors of the twentieth-century, Barracoon brilliantly illuminates the tragedy of slavery and of one life forever defined by it. Offering insight into the pernicious legacy that continues to haunt us all, black and white, this poignant and powerful work is an invaluable contribution to our shared history and culture.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateMay 8, 2018
    ISBN9780062748232
    Author

    Zora Neale Hurston

    Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960) was an American author, anthropologist, and filmmaker. She portrayed racial struggles in the early-1900s American South and published research on hoodoo. The most popular of her four novels is Their Eyes Were Watching God, published in 1937. She also wrote more than fifty short stories, plays, and essays.

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    Reviews for Barracoon

    4/5

    639 ratings54 reviews

    What our readers think

    Readers find this title to be a mixed bag. Some reviewers found the book difficult to follow, with a slow start and extensive foreword. However, others highly recommended it, praising the emotional roller coaster and the narration. The book provides a captivating account of the original African battles and the experiences of a man captured and enslaved. It offers insights into tribal culture, the lives of enslaved people, and the conflicts with whites and American-born slaves. Overall, it is an important and impactful narrative that should be acknowledged and honored.

    What did you think?

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    • 5/5

      Sep 9, 2023

      This was a Birdseye view of the ravages of greedy African and colonials who used people who became slaves because they were expendable for their money scams. If you were poor and not in the chiefs favor some were sold/traded. The story of his son’s loss trying to collect for his father’s railroad injury was heartbreaking. Loved zora’s gifts of fruit and meat to keep the dialog going

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5

      Sep 8, 2023

      The first six chapters of the audio book consisted of a preface and then an introduction. That was drudgery.... but then the story got more interesting as the main character explained how he came to be captured and enslaved, and his experiences once he got to America. What makes the story truly interesting is the account of the original African battles that lead to one man’s capture and a subsequent seventy day trip across the sea on a slave ship. This particular ship allowed captives on the decks and tried to keep the “cargo” alive for later sale. What happened after arrival is not as clear but the accounts of the original kidnapping make the book worth consideration.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5

      Sep 9, 2023

      I loved this so much! Highly recommended and a must read!
    • 5/5

      Sep 9, 2023

      Loved how short and detailed the story was! She told Cudjo's story without involving herself within it and I like how she did not correct his speech.
    • 4/5

      Sep 9, 2023

      Hurston’s book length interview with the last recorded slave in 1927 is an important addition to the library of slavery in America books. The dialogue spoken by Cudjo Lewis is difficult at first to decipher, but after a few pages, it becomes second nature to the reader. The speech pattern lends credence to the man’s powerful words. His stories are gruesome, so much so, that many readers might want to avoid a meal before sitting down to read it. Any scholar studying slavery in the U.S. would want to put Hurston’s book at the top of his/her list of primary sources.
    • 5/5

      Sep 9, 2023

      A Great book! The audiobook is fantastic. Check it out
    • 5/5

      Sep 9, 2023

      This book is an emotional roller coaster but it’s necessary for our culture!
    • 4/5

      Sep 9, 2023

      I expected more of Cudjo's story from the exploitative and enslavement perspective, but it was HIS story to tell and he shared the pieces of him that he wanted. Who can disagree with that?
    • 5/5

      Sep 9, 2023

      Captivating account of getting captured and sold into slavery. Expressive voice over. Well done production.
    • 4/5

      Sep 9, 2023

      The book was excellent, and Robin Miles did a fantastic job with the narration! It’s clear she puts a lot of work getting into the depths of the book and she brought a lot to the narration. The book itself was so interesting and heartbreaking and hopeful...
    • 5/5

      Sep 8, 2023

      Perfect book for those who want to learn more history
    • 3/5

      Sep 8, 2023

      Book: Wasn't as interesting as I was expecting. It covers ground that has been covered previously and in much more depth and detail.

      Audio: Nicely read with excellent and appropriate accenting.
    • 5/5

      Sep 8, 2023

      A historical account of a resilient man’s story of capture, slavery, injustice, love, family, and loneliness. An important and impactful narrative that should be read, acknowledged, and honored by all. Suitable for all ages, and an incredibly useful tool in learning about US slavery from the perspective of one who endured. A true gift from Ms. Hurston.
    • 5/5

      Sep 8, 2023

      55. Barracoon : The Story of the Last "Black Cargo" (audio) by Zora Neale Hurstonrediscovered and edited by Deborah G. Plantreader: Robin Milespublished: 2018, but originally written in 1931format: 3:53 Libby audiobook (~107 pages equivalent, stretched to 208 pages in paperback)acquired: Librarylistened: Oct 8-12rating: 4½The story of the last living African born American slave, told in his own voice. Hurston interviewed Cudjo Lewis in 1927, and she includes herself in the book, but she gives him control of the narrative, and he takes it in some unexpected places, and colors it in his own variety of southern black English. His language, beautifully captured by Robin Miles on the audio, hangs around after the book.Lewis, born Kossola (pronounced here, roughly, KUH-zoolah), insists on talking first about his ancestry in Africa. And spends the heart of narrative on his home continent, including the story of his capture in a gruesome village massacre. But he also goes into his time in the barracoon in Ouidah (modern Benin), his purchase, 70-day passage across the Atlantic to Mobile, Alabama, his life as a slave, and then a free man who married, had several children, and lost several in tragic, and sometimes mysterious ways in Alabama. He was 19 when he made the passage to America in 1859, and so 87 years old when Hurston interviewed him.It's not clear to me whether she continued to interview him, but she wrote up this book in 1931 and then when tried to get it published, there were no takers. Publishers were uncomfortable with the extended dialect, and especially with his Africa. In the mythology of the time, Africa should have been something of positive, something to long for. But, despite his painfully missing his home, the Africa he writes about is brutal, marred with terrible violence. Deborah G. Plant recently (?) discovered the manuscript and it was first published earlier this year.“We cry ’cause we slave. In night time we cry, we say we born and raised to be free people and now we slave. We doan know why we be bring ’way from our country to work lak dis. It strange to us. Everybody lookee at us strange. We want to talk wid de udder colored folkses but dey doan know whut we say. Some makee de fun at us.”
    • 3/5

      Sep 8, 2023

      I think it's quite hard to follow as the author tries to replicate the exact words and speaking style of the main character (which is mentioned by author in the preface).
    • 5/5

      Sep 8, 2023

      Hope this becomes apart of curriculum for students. Very interesting.
    • 5/5

      Sep 8, 2023

      Good book sharing some history and stories of a ex-slave.
    • 5/5

      Sep 8, 2023

      It chronicles the lives of the people stolen from Africa long after slave trade was abolished in this country. We learn tribal culture and history of one particular tribe enslaving many others for sale across the ocean. Life in slavery, in freedom in Africa Town, in families and the conflicts with whites and American born slaves; all told in first person narrative remembrances by a man who was forced to make the terrible passage from Africa to America.
    • 5/5

      Nov 20, 2022

      I love Zora Neale Hurston anyway

      And finding Barracoon just confirmed that. This edition is more than the original manuscript, containing much informative front and back matter: The book itself is actually quite small. It's enough, though, to break your heart for Kossula and the 12 million Africans who died grieving and longing for an Africa they would never see again, and enough to make you want to learn more. I'm off to see if I can find the film footage of him that she shot.
    • 5/5

      Aug 25, 2022

      This was a quick read. For some, it might be a little difficult due to dialect. I liked this though because it's a first-hand account of being a slave. This is set up in an interview like format. I've read a ton of Zora before reading this book. In some ways I think they over hyped this book especially if this is your first Zora book, but in other ways I'm glad they published this book. It's a good book to read today during Juneteenth.
    • 4/5

      Sep 17, 2024

      The interviews with Cudjo Lewis were fascinating and I greatly appreciated learning about his experiences both in Africa and in the U.S. The various prologues, appendices etc were not that interesting which is why I did not give it as many stars as that main story deserved. An interesting portrait of a man ripped away from his native land at the age of 19, enslaved for five years and never able to return to his homeland because of the money involved breaks my heart. His life here was difficult and full of sadness yet he survived.
    • 3/5

      Sep 9, 2023

      I couldn’t finish it; it was difficult to listen to. Plus, the foreword is so extensive that the actual book doesn’t start for a while!

      1 person found this helpful

    • 1/5

      Sep 8, 2023

      This copy skipped chapters. Couldn’t piece together the story.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5

      Jun 13, 2022

      Zora Neale Hurston's Barracoon was written in the late 1920's and remained unpublished until 2018 when the remains of the Clotilda were found. The Clotilda was an illegal slave ship that picked up the last bit of human cargo in 1859, 50 years after the international slave trade had been abandoned. Cudjo Lewis, born Oluale Kossola, was captured by other Africans at age 19 and sold into slavery by them. Transported on the Clotilda by the Meaher brothers, he survived the Middle Passage, and 5.5 years a slave before emancipation. He helped to find Africatown (Plateau), AL after gaining his freedom. The book is written as a reflection on how Lewis spoke. Absolutely fascinating to hear the story of his capture, enslavement, freedom, and most of all his overwhelming desire to return to his native Africa.
    • 3/5

      Nov 11, 2021

      Cudjo's narrative itself is quite fascinating but I found the arrangement and choice of supplemental information frustrating. For instance, footnotes from the editor claim Hughes' assumptions about Cudjo's African hometown to be erroneous, yet never offers the correct information or how we know she was wrong.
    • 4/5

      Jul 16, 2021

      I could have done without the preface by Deborah G. Plant, or at least I think it would have been better placed as an appendix. It’s a rather lengthy and scholarly analysis of the politics and significance of the work in the context of Hurston’s life, and so is more about Hurston than the book, although it reiterates (or rather, pre-iterates) a great deal of Cudjo’s history that he later tells in his own words.

      As for Cudjo’s story, it covers a great deal more than just the Middle Passage, as you might surmise from the title. In fact, the parts of his story that left the greatest impression on me were the social and economic injustices that occurred after he was emancipated.
    • 5/5

      Apr 27, 2020

      A short but essential read for all to understand the experience, told first hand to an excellent anthropologist and evocative writer
    • 3/5

      Mar 15, 2020

      In 1927, an 86-year-old ex-slave living near Mobile AL tells his life story to interviewer Zora Neale Hurston. His words are recorded as heard, in local southern dialect. Cudjo Lewis was born Kossula in West Africa; captured and sold into slavery, and transported across the ocean in the famous ship Clotilde. Yes, America had abolished the slave trade decades before; this was all done hush-hush. Kossula lived over 5 years as a slave; then freed by the Civil War he built a house, and lived with a beloved wife and six children - all of whom predeceased him, each parting more tragic than the last. While this is undeniably a painful tale to read, the fascination of hearing first-hand the experiences of a black American of that time period who was African-born and can remember and relate his childhood experiences, his capture, his transport, his time enslaved, and his experiences since, makes the read a powerful and moving experience and more than just a sad slog.
    • 5/5

      Dec 3, 2019

      Stunning literary work
    • 5/5

      Oct 1, 2019

      Finally published after the author's failure to get it published in her lifetime. This book represents Zora Neale Hurston's interviews with a survivor of the last (illegal) "cargo" of Africans destined to become American slaves. After several years as slaves, they were liberated by the Civil War. Most of the people on this ship stayed together and founded a town. The interviews elicited descriptions of life in Africa and being captured and sold to slave traders by Africans of a different tribe, and then what it was like to face slavery followed by discrimination that originated even from other African-American ex-slaves, who saw these recent arrivals as barbarians.