From Africa to Brazil traces the flows of enslaved Africans from identifiable points in the broad region of Africa called Upper Guinea to Amazonia; Brazil. These two regions; though separated by an ocean; were made one by a slave route. Walter Hawthorne considers why planters in Amazonia wanted African slaves; why and how those sent to Amazonia were enslaved; and what their Middle Passage experience was like. The book is also concerned with how Africans in diaspora shaped labor regimes; determined the nature of their family lives; and crafted religious beliefs that were similar to those they had known before enslavement. This study makes several broad contributions. It presents the only book-length examination of African slavery in Amazonia and identifies with precision the locations in Africa from where members of a large diaspora in the Americas hailed. From Africa to Brazil also proposes new directions for scholarship focused on how immigrant groups created new or recreated old cultures.
#47144 in Books University of California Press 2016-10-25 2016-10-25Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.00 x 1.40 x 6.00l; .0 #File Name: 0520293282568 pagesUniversity of California Press
Review
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. VANGUARDS of the CommunityBy Terry TeacherBlack Against Empire I found fascinating and at times energizing as I read about the intelligence; knowledge and world wide recognition (back in the day) of the Black Panther Party (BPP). The PBS BPP documentary is what prompted me to downloaded and read this book after several profs that I follow on Twitter recommended it as we tweeted while viewing. It’s amazing and incredible that there isn’t more acknowledgement in our school history books on this group of individuals who took it amongst themselves to mobilized into a military force all the righteous anger (due to police harassment and killings; no jobs; substandard educ…you know; the regular) in the Black community and create an organization that stood up for themselves with arms in addition to providing needed services to the community. The BPP gave the marginalized Black community life where young (mostly) flocked to join an organization where something was actually being implemented and where they could stand proud against the insurgent police that had been terrorizing them for decades to be the vanguards of their community.There is so much in this book that I was not aware. To name a few: BPP fought for and got the first Department of Black Studies implemented at San Francisco State; the Chinese government was in frequent communication with the BPP and hosted a delegation with a personal invitation to Huey Newton; Algeria granted the Panthers national diplomatic status and an embassy building of their own; traveled to Cuba to represent at conference on Solidarity; BPP was embraced as the revolutionary vanguard and many groups sought to emulate their model in other countries; white anti war activist identified strongly with the BPP and were strong allies; how BPP formed a alliances with a multiracial coalition of students; faculty; labor and community leaders; the fact that on April 22; 1970; Yale students went on strike in conjunction with the BPP for the first time in the university’s history in ‘recognition of oppression; and exploitation’; Panthers were the catalyst for the first-ever Special Weapons Assault Team (SWAT); had many high-profile (like Marlon Brando and Jean Seberg) supporters that donated thousands of dollars.While reading I was often struck by the many parallels to today (history repeating itself): police killing African Americans and getting away with it; Black people being treated unfairly by our criminal justice system; rift between the civil rights establishment and young urban blacks – such as the Black Lives Matter Movement etc. I strongly believe that knowing one’s history supplies an anchor; an armor of sorts; and as an educator I feel it’s my responsibility to make students aware to provide that knowledge anchor and hopefully to move on to a more positive history narrative. You know the old saying: if you don’t know your history….1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Major Work of History: Compelling Writing Based on New Archives of Primary Sources. What Every Historian Wants.By Kathryn PonThis is a major work of history. To delve deeply into the primary sources; the authors with multitudes of research assistants and graduate students; assembled a major archive of published newspapers and collaborated with a second archive; the HK Yuen collection of throusands of fliers and pamphlets and over 30;000 hours of audio recordings of meetings and rallies from the 1960's-1990's. This is an historian's dream to have such complete contemporary records. The authors also collected many oral histories and retrospective interviews. They also make their interest clear through their concluding chapter: "we consider the history of the Black Panther Party in light of Antonio Gramsci's theory of revolution." Trained historians are well aware of the illusory paradigm of "objective" history. Constant revision; one historian's account dialoguing with past accounts; is the process of writing history. There have been from the beginning of epic story telling "schools" of history. Each generation brings a re-examination of the past. When we readers are fortunate; new or neglected theories of history are freshly employed and new documentary information comes to light. I feel fortunate to have read this compelling and brilliantly researched history which references a neglected methodology. Black Against Empire is the exemplary account with which all future historians will have to grapple.2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Now We KnowBy Mihal CeittinExcellent take on a little understood and imperfectly remembered slice of American history. Wonderfully vivid portrait of some true American characters who tried to create a new identity for Black people in 'racist' America.
