Become a Partner
Become a Partner
  • 2 months ago
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Transcript
00:01:00It's a spiritual sort of thing, being connected to the natural world, the natural environment.
00:01:08For me it calms me. It brings about a sense of peace and tranquility.
00:01:17So I want to stay connected to the water as much as possible.
00:01:30During the trade there were some 40,000 plus voyages that were made.
00:01:41That involved something like 12,000 plus vessels.
00:01:46But the big irony is that in archaeology we're only aware of about five or six of those vessels.
00:01:53That's been documented. Each one of those vessels has a unique story to tell.
00:01:57This is sort of like where we had the soil in from the Makua village in Mozambique.
00:02:04These are trade beads. I'm sure you've heard a lot about trade beads.
00:02:09They're traded for a lot of things, including African bodies.
00:02:14What I do is we take these and we tuck them in.
00:02:19Before we dive we do a little ritual, talk about the reason why we're here.
00:02:25While we're in the water we have to listen.
00:02:29We have to listen to those ancestral voices that are trying to direct us to these shipwrecks.
00:02:35So we do a little ritual and we keep these with us until those voices become live again.
00:02:54Music
00:03:11And what a disappointment. A shipwreck discovered in the Mobile-Tensaw Delta is not the Clotilda.
00:03:17Experts have several reasons proving this wasn't the Clotilda.
00:03:20Ten slaves were brought to the U.S. on the Clotilda.
00:03:24After 160 years the remains of the last slave ship...
00:03:30A lot of people think they won't ever find it.
00:03:36I never looked for the wreck site. I never really cared about the wreck site
00:03:41because when they told all the stories all I needed to hear was we came up off the water.
00:03:45So this is where I'm at.
00:03:47If they do find it, I would love to touch it. I would love to see it.
00:04:01I don't know. Maybe they'll find it, maybe they won't.
00:04:11From my earliest childhood I was taught about being a direct descendant.
00:04:18They didn't refer to us as direct descendants then. They referred to us as one of the Africans.
00:04:28So we were some of the Africans that lived in Africatown.
00:04:35They didn't call it Africatown at that time. It was Magazine Point and Plateau.
00:04:41My grandmother's home house where she grew up was on South Magazine Road.
00:04:59So we have the book Barracuda. Who've all read the book? Who's all read the book?
00:05:04Who've all read the book? Who's all read the book?
00:05:09Okay, so three, four, five.
00:05:13I am a direct descendant of Charlie Lewis, one of the survivors of the Clotilda.
00:05:19Well, this is Kazula. Kajos, everybody know him by.
00:05:24Charlie. And he is standing in Lewis' quarter. So this is my great-great-great-great-grandfather, six times.
00:05:31But I don't want to get too much into me. We can start reading some excerpts from Kazula's story.
00:05:41I know you guys, when you look at the wording, it's like, I know people who talk like this.
00:05:47And I'm on page 92.
00:05:50Old Charlie, he the oldest one come from Africa soil.
00:05:54One Sunday after my wife left me, he come with all the others.
00:05:58They come across the water and say, Uncle Kajo, make us a parable.
00:06:12My name is Zora Neale Hurston, and I'm going to sing a song that I collected in 1935.
00:06:20I don't remember the man's name.
00:06:23The history, it's like a puzzle that fits together.
00:06:28My grandmama at night, she sit by the fireplace and tell us stories,
00:06:34passing it down so we could tell the story the way they would have told them.
00:06:40Now, they call me the treasure keeper in my family.
00:06:44I take the role in trying to keep the history alive by telling the story.
00:06:49Trying to keep the history alive by telling the story to whoever listens.
00:07:11This is your narrative. This is your story as a descendant community.
00:07:16And so we're definitely going to follow your lead, if you will.
00:07:22For those of you that don't know me, my name is Kamau Siddiqui.
00:07:25It's really a pleasure to be back in this community.
00:07:27I see some familiar faces.
00:07:29As has been said, I'm with the Slave Wrecks Project,
00:07:32which does research on slave shipwrecks all over the world.
00:07:37150 years ago, about 110 souls walked on this foreign land.
00:07:44Not knowing anything about their future.
00:07:48Knowing that they'd never see their family again.
00:07:51And not only did they walk onto a foreign land,
00:07:54they walked in the midst of a country torn apart in the Civil War.
00:07:57So, when we locate the person, we'll have a powerful artifact to help tell that story.
00:08:04And the clothetails that represents a conduit,
00:08:07a conduit not only to the past of that story and this community,
00:08:11but a conduit to a very powerful future.
00:08:15A very powerful future for this community.
00:08:32The way my mother told me is that Timothy Mayer,
00:08:36a local businessman, made a bet that after slavery was abolished,
00:08:41that he could still bring Africans into the country.
00:08:45And he went and got a bunch of Africans and brought them back here
00:08:51to the mouth of the Mobile River.
00:08:54Just let them off the boat and burn the ship to conceal the crime.
00:09:00What I know of the story is that it came down to a bet,
00:09:03and Timothy Mayer said, yeah, we can do this.
00:09:06And Captain William Foster built the clothetail, set sail in April of 1860,
00:09:11and went into Dahomey at the time, now Benin, captured these individuals,
00:09:16came back into Mobile Bay, and was able to release these people,
00:09:23sell them to buyers, and enslave them.
00:09:28Foster was able to take it up the river and burn it.
00:09:30What was left eventually sunk into the river.
00:09:34There was a whole purpose of burning it,
00:09:37to keep it from ever being found, or any documentation of it.
00:09:41It's slowly been erased. It's slowly gone away.
00:09:46And as far as I can remember, it's never been in history books.
00:09:54It had always been lore that that happened up there.
00:09:58And that those people were descendants of folks from a slave ship that sank and burned.
00:10:04But no one broadcasted that, because they were afraid.
00:10:09The Africans were told for years, do not repeat this story.
00:10:14Don't even mention it outside of our house, because you could be killed.
00:10:18You could be lynched for making that accusation.
00:10:21You're talking about 1860 up until the 1960s.
00:10:25That's a hundred years of not being able to say anything.
00:10:52When you look at stuff from 25 years ago, it's like going to the graveyard.
00:10:58Because everybody is gone.
00:11:01And there was a rush to get them before they went.
00:11:06I've got Henry Williams' son, but not Henry Williams. That's a shame.
00:11:11I don't know.
00:11:14I don't know.
00:11:17I don't know.
00:11:19That's a damn shame.
00:11:22The truth is in the bits and pieces.
00:11:25Some folklores are angling towards being with the historians and gathering stuff that reveals some sort of truth.
00:11:30I myself like when there's chaos and there's a big fat lie.
00:11:35This is Gary and Em's aunt, Martha.
00:11:40Martha came home to die.
00:11:42I was born and reared in Plateau.
00:11:52It was also called Africa Town.
00:11:55Because my mother's grandfather, Kajo Kazoodalus, who hailed from West Ghana, Africa, was there in America.
00:12:08They came to the U.S. in 1859.
00:12:12This place was later called, after being populated, Africa Town proper, U.S.A.
00:12:21What I like about that is she's so regal.
00:12:24She's so regal.
00:12:31Between us all, between the local historians and the folklores, we got the stuff.
00:12:38We got it collectively, but from the generation that just passed on.
00:12:44You know, I haven't used the video machine in months and Sundays.
00:12:57All right, here we go.
00:13:00I'm talking about some of these things kind of haphazardly recorded.
00:13:03It's really not organized in my mind as I would like to have it.
00:13:08So Captain Foster, as it was said, if he had a gun in his hand and threatened to shoot anybody or kill anybody, he would attempt to leave the ship.
00:13:19Some of the people were parrot to Plateau.
00:13:24Some were parrot to Selma.
00:13:27And some to another county, Alabama.
00:13:33We always said we talk about it among ourselves, but we couldn't talk about it openly.
00:13:40That's why the history didn't get widespread.
00:13:48First they buy us with some clothes.
00:13:51Then they carry us up the Alabama River and hide us in the swamp.
00:13:55Tim Mayer, he took 32 of us.
00:13:58Captain Bill Foster, he took the eight couples.
00:14:02Some, they sail up the river.
00:14:05And Jim Mayer, he get the rest.
00:14:11In these stories, so much has been forgotten.
00:14:15But it's important to bring them back and to remember.
00:14:19It's so critical to just being human, being whole again.
00:14:23Particularly on slave vessels, they have stories to tell.
00:14:28Not just the shackles, but the cooking pots.
00:14:31Maybe it's the beads that the Africans might have taken with them, just trying to hold on something that was part of their culture and their heritage.
00:14:41All these things tell incredible stories.
00:14:46Get a dish down to put these on.
00:14:49These are good pancake substitutes too.
00:14:52No, these are good cornbread substitutes.
00:14:55I'm telling you.
00:14:57I would feel a completeness, I would feel like I had been made whole.
00:15:01If I could connect back past my grandmother.
00:15:06See where the ship is, see what it looked like, see what the conditions were on it.
00:15:12It's like you keep searching and you're searching and you're saying something is missing, something is missing.
00:15:16It's kind of like an adopted child.
00:15:19It keeps searching for that birth mother, keeps searching for that birth mother.
00:15:23In my inner soul, I'm searching for my ancestry.
00:15:27And if I could put my finger on any part of it, I would feel more complete.
00:15:40To find the ship would be vitally important.
00:15:43What the ship does is give the rest of the world the evidence that it took place.
00:15:55There's a story there worth sharing with the whole world.
00:16:00And I would love to find the ship, to enshrine it, but I don't need the proof.
00:16:07I've lived with the proof all of my life.
00:16:09Just about every person that was on that ship, I could tell you where they lived in this community.
00:16:14Cudjoe Lewis, and Polly Allen, Charlie Lewis, and all these people.
00:16:19I went to school with all of their grandkids.
00:16:25The Civil War ended in 1865, so they were not in a slavery mode but about five years.
00:16:32And so, the Civil War ended.
00:16:35They were not in a slavery mode but about five years.
00:16:38And so, because of that, they knew more about being free than being slaves.
00:16:44The, quote, slaves who were already here were born into that bondage.
00:16:49They were born into slavery.
00:16:51So they didn't know anything about being free.
00:16:53They blamed, but we were trying to get this house preservated so that we could keep it as a historical monument of Lewis' quarters.
00:17:01Them Africans brought a whole new attitude to the people that were already there.
00:17:07They created this thriving place.
00:17:11They were just enough on the outside of the city where nobody was going to mess with them.
00:17:16And they told their story, and that story sustained itself about these people coming from these places in Africa,
00:17:25speaking all these languages, and having a sense of who they were.
00:17:29That sense of who they were spilled over into the other folks' sense of who they were,
00:17:34and they've been holding it down and fighting ever since.
00:17:39That's why I'm a fan of Lorna Woods.
00:17:42She tells it all.
00:17:44She gives you all the information you need.
00:17:54These are his two children.
00:17:57That's his wife and that's their cousin.
00:18:00This was the pastor of Union Baptist Church.
00:18:03That's when they built the new church in 19…
00:18:05Our family came from another continent and came to Mobile, started their own little town, bought land,
00:18:14and it's still in the family, and they told us never to give up the land
00:18:21because they found out that having land gave you a voice here in Mobile, Alabama.
00:18:36I don't know if you can see down there, but all the way down in the ditch you got headstones,
00:18:42and I noticed as a child a lot of those headstones don't got names on them,
00:18:48so a lot of those people, they don't even know who they is no more.
00:18:54Well, here it is right here.
00:18:56Here, I remember as a child, I came out here, the bushes was almost, you know,
00:19:04as tall as the headstone, and my dad used to make us push through it, no matter what.
00:19:10Like, we come from the front just like that, we push our way through.
00:19:15A lot of nights when I go to sleep, I talk to them.
00:19:19I feel like when you have this type of history, your ancestors will always talk to you.
00:19:27From birth, I spent my whole life in this graveyard.
00:19:32With everything that I was taught, I learned that right here.
00:19:37Even learning his name, Kujo, I learned that in the graveyard.
00:19:42I didn't get a classroom, I didn't get a campfire with my family, no.
00:19:47I got my daddy walking me through here at 3 or 4 o'clock in the morning
00:19:51with a cup of gin in his hand, talking to his son.
00:19:56And at the end of every conversation, he always tells me, he says,
00:20:00son, you know I'm old, I'm going to get up out of here one day.
00:20:03You got to learn everything.
00:20:17He always wanted me to be a good son.
00:20:20He always wanted us to be able to talk to our people.
00:20:23So, anytime we heard a ghost story, that wasn't a ghost story for us.
00:20:27That was our ancestors talking.
00:20:33I was actually told that was why I was born, was to know this story
00:20:37because he wanted to pass that knowledge on to at least one person.
00:20:41I looked at Kujo as the image of my father.
00:20:45Everything my dad was, I pictured Kujo being there.
00:20:50And I never seen my dad cry tears for real.
00:20:54But to hear them tell me that Kujo cried, he cried for days.
00:21:00It wasn't just a cry, he cried for days.
00:21:03And everybody that came and asked him what was wrong,
00:21:06he just said, Kujo.
00:21:07And everybody that came and asked him what was wrong,
00:21:10he just said he missed home.
00:21:19The village that these Africans built after freedom came,
00:21:23they called African Town.
00:21:25The town is now called Plateau, Alabama.
00:21:29The new name was bestowed upon it by the Mobile and Birmingham Railroad,
00:21:34now a part of the Southern Railroad system built through the town,
00:21:39but still its dominant tone is Africa.
00:21:43With these things already known to me,
00:21:46I once more sought the ancient house of a man called Kujo.
00:21:51How does one sleep with such memories beneath his pillar?
00:22:05This is the only existing footage of Kujo Lewis,
00:22:10known as the last survivor of the Clotilda.
00:22:15This reel was shot in 1928 by the young writer and folklorist,
00:22:21Zora Neale Hurston,
00:22:23who is also considered to be the first black female filmmaker.
00:22:29Zora worked throughout the Deep South collecting black stories,
00:22:34dances, and traditions.
00:22:36She often memorialized the songs she encountered in her own voice.
00:22:50She met with Kujo several times
00:22:53and carefully transcribed his memories in his own voice.
00:22:58It was his own dialect.
00:23:00The manuscript recounting his story, she titled Barracoon.
00:23:06It was meant to be published in 1931,
00:23:10but instead stayed locked in a vault,
00:23:13unread by the public until 2018.
00:23:29We will find the Clotilda, and we will.
00:23:37All right, now I'd like to introduce our new friends here.
00:23:41We are just so pleased with National Geographic.
00:23:44Come on up, Fred.
00:23:48Good evening, all.
00:23:50It's such a pleasure to be here.
00:23:52I really can't believe it.
00:23:54This is one of the great untold stories of American history.
00:23:58Let me tell you, I am here to say we want to tell your story.
00:24:02We think this is a great story.
00:24:04And in this way, it has been a really, let me put it this way,
00:24:08a no-brainer situation for us to work with James Delgado,
00:24:13perhaps greatest shipwreck expert in the United States,
00:24:17in the world, perhaps, and his team from Search.
00:24:20You are in good hands with this team.
00:24:23Thank you very much.
00:24:29Hello, everybody, and it's good to see so many familiar faces.
00:24:34So we've come now equipped to do a thorough survey,
00:24:38and it's an area that, as we have found, has never been surveyed before.
00:24:43Everything over on the other side was looked at and surveyed
00:24:46in the 1990s, including Biokino.
00:24:48We also found a manuscript map done by the Coast Survey
00:24:52for the Army Corps of Engineers in 1889,
00:24:55and it showed that they'd been charting the river in that area,
00:24:58particularly around 12 Mile Island.
00:25:00They found no wrecks or obstructions on the other side.
00:25:03They didn't do much on this side that we're working on now.
00:25:07So we're looking at what's basically the only section of the river
00:25:10that hasn't been surveyed, other than farther up north.
00:25:15But in particular, with modern technology,
00:25:18nobody's looked under it, particularly under the mud.
00:25:22I'm glad I'm a part of it.
00:25:24It's been always an awesome pleasure to meet you all
00:25:27and come back to this community.
00:25:29And what I give, I give from my heart,
00:25:31and I hope to give some value to make this community
00:25:34much, much greater than when I first came into it.
00:25:37So thank you. Thank you.
00:25:45I don't want the momentum of the story to just be focused on the ship.
00:25:49It's not all about that ship.
00:25:52I get it, you know, it'll bring tourism and all those type of things,
00:25:58but how should I say this?
00:26:04I can care less about the ship.
00:26:06I know a lot of people asking us how we feel.
00:26:09Ask the family who built the ship.
00:26:11You know, they were shipbuilders.
00:26:13How do they feel about it?
00:26:14In the story, they said they lived on Telegraph Road.
00:26:18So I always, when I'm driving home,
00:26:22envision that the plantation's set in this area.
00:26:26Because right here, this concrete is sprayed in red,
00:26:30and it's mayor.
00:26:37It's so funny that the mayors are like, they're right here.
00:26:40All these three things,
00:26:41All these streets that I grew up on,
00:26:43Timothy Avenue, Mayor Street,
00:26:46I could pass by these people in the grocery store
00:26:49and wouldn't know them.
00:26:51Someone taught them well about not speaking.
00:26:54Your children are not going to say anything.
00:26:56Your grandchildren are not going to say anything.
00:26:59I've never met a family that can keep their mouth shut like this.
00:27:01I've never met a family that can keep their mouth shut like this.
00:27:10Africatown is completely surrounded,
00:27:13every direction, by some form of heavy industry.
00:27:24There was a PCB manufacturer in Africatown.
00:27:27There was a lead smelter in Africatown.
00:27:28There was a DOD hazardous waste dump in Africatown.
00:27:31Then you had International Paper Company.
00:27:33You have waves of chemical refineries
00:27:36related to the paper industry and now the oil industry.
00:27:39This is the existing zoning in Africatown.
00:27:43All this dark gray is zoned industrial too.
00:27:47The highest, most permissive industrial zoning afforded by the city.
00:27:51The vacant land is gray,
00:27:53and you can see there's quite a bit of vacant land
00:27:55in the residentially zoned areas.
00:27:56When you have so much vacant land,
00:27:58you have choices to make.
00:28:00And the purpose of zoning is
00:28:02to put the right things in the right place.
00:28:04If you ask any resident in Africatown,
00:28:06are the things surrounding them in the right place?
00:28:09Is that the right use?
00:28:11They'd say, no.
00:28:14The fight over zoning is a fight over destiny.
00:28:18And getting to the root of why those things are there,
00:28:21who made the decision to lease their land to those industries
00:28:24or sell their land to those industries,
00:28:27that is just as much part of the story as the Clotilda.
00:28:35This was downtown Plateau.
00:28:38Yeah, this was downtown Africatown.
00:28:42We had everything.
00:28:44Right there where the sign is was Craig's Drive-In
00:28:47and the gas station.
00:28:49We had a hotel, post office, shop, stores.
00:28:52My house was down here, right here.
00:28:55It was right here.
00:28:57My best friend lived right there, Nate Haywood.
00:29:00And I would go across the street.
00:29:02And you could walk across the street
00:29:04because even though there was traffic,
00:29:06you could walk out in the street
00:29:08and the car would stop for you, you know?
00:29:10Reverend Hunter lived there.
00:29:12The Caffeys lived there.
00:29:14The Haywoods.
00:29:16On down the way, all houses, all community.
00:29:19We would sit out on the porch at night
00:29:22and just enjoy the evening.
00:29:26Right there, man.
00:29:28I used to live right there.
00:29:29¶¶
00:29:59This is the spot for me where I come just sit at.
00:30:02I come sit here all the time.
00:30:04If I'm not craving,
00:30:06I usually just come pull up and sit here.
00:30:08A lot of people that's looking for the Catilda,
00:30:10they think it's up this way.
00:30:12Some people think it's back here,
00:30:14but a lot of the community people,
00:30:16they know it's not back here.
00:30:18They think it's up there.
00:30:20So, I mean, all our history here
00:30:22and we've been having factories around us
00:30:24our whole life, Scott Paper Company, all this.
00:30:26I mean, what person want to wake up
00:30:27knowing that they sitting on historic land,
00:30:30but they got to smell the chemicals from the factory.
00:30:34To some of my people, we feel like this ours.
00:30:37And we don't want no chemical plants.
00:30:40We don't want nothing outside touching what we've got.
00:30:42Like, if they take this,
00:30:44then that really is, that wipe our history out.
00:30:47¶¶
00:30:51Those are city taxes.
00:30:53I'm not, let me check the date.
00:30:55That's 1902.
00:30:57¶¶
00:30:59I think this is the oldest document we have
00:31:01for the property taxes.
00:31:03This is dated 1874.
00:31:05I think it may have been a little later, Pat.
00:31:08I think it was.
00:31:10There's no date there, but I did the math,
00:31:12so it was around 1900 when that was done.
00:31:15Okay.
00:31:17It says Lottie Dennison, native of Africa,
00:31:19age 62 years.
00:31:21And with him being born in 1838.
00:31:23It was after emancipation
00:31:24and they all had managed to sort of come together
00:31:26back in Africa, what is now Africatown.
00:31:30And they knew that they were not going to return to Africa.
00:31:35There just wasn't a passage, a way for them to go back.
00:31:40So Kajo was chosen to go and talk with Timothy Mayer
00:31:45about giving them some land
00:31:47so they could start a settlement.
00:31:49¶¶
00:31:51Captain Tim Mayer come sit on the tree
00:31:53Kajo just chopped it down.
00:31:55I say, now this is the time for Kajo to speak for his people.
00:32:00¶¶
00:32:02We want land so much, I almost cry.
00:32:05And therefore, I stop at work and look at Captain Tim.
00:32:10He sit on the tree chopping spinners with his pocket knife.
00:32:15When he don't hear the axe on the tree no more,
00:32:17he look up and see Kajo standing there.
00:32:20¶¶
00:32:22Therefore, he asked me, Kajo, what make you so sad?
00:32:27¶¶
00:32:29I tell him, Captain Tim, I grieve for my home.
00:32:33¶¶
00:32:35He say, but you got a good home.
00:32:38¶¶
00:32:40¶¶
00:32:42I'm Joe Womack and who we have behind me
00:32:44are members of the African child community.
00:32:47Today we're here to tell the pipeline people
00:32:50and all company to stop it.
00:32:53¶¶
00:32:55Anything you have to do to keep them out, we'll do.
00:32:58¶¶
00:33:00If it's not, who's supposed to be reporting this?
00:33:03¶¶
00:33:05It looked like snow when we were on the playground.
00:33:08So I guess it was the paper from the paper mill would come.
00:33:11It would blow over to the school.
00:33:12¶¶
00:33:14So, you know, we would play in it, you know, just fan it.
00:33:18But we didn't know.
00:33:20I mean, we didn't know.
00:33:22¶¶
00:33:24I pastor a church where we were having funeral after funeral.
00:33:27My first year, I venture to say that we had right at 15 to 20 funerals.
00:33:32You don't have two and three funerals in the same week
00:33:35on the same day from the same reason.
00:33:37That's unheard of.
00:33:39¶¶
00:33:41Captain Tim, you brought us from our country where we had land.
00:33:46You made us slaves.
00:33:48Now they make us free.
00:33:50But we ain't got no country, and we ain't got no land.
00:33:53¶¶
00:33:55I sent out a little survey and asked everybody
00:33:57if they had anyone that had cancer, knew anyone that had cancer.
00:34:00I got over 100 surveys back.
00:34:02Each one of these got somebody on it.
00:34:04Some of them got four or five people.
00:34:06¶¶
00:34:08Why don't you give us a piece of this land
00:34:11so we can build ourselves a home?
00:34:13¶¶
00:34:16Captain Tim jumped down and said,
00:34:19fool, do you think I'm going to give you property on top of property?
00:34:25I took good care of my slaves,
00:34:28and therefore I don't owe them nothing.
00:34:31You don't belong to me now.
00:34:33Why must I give you my land?
00:34:35¶¶
00:34:38Because you'll call the people together
00:34:40and tell them what Captain Tim say.
00:34:43¶¶
00:34:46They say we will buy ourselves a piece of land.
00:34:52¶¶
00:34:54¶¶
00:35:05I was 39 when I was diagnosed.
00:35:08¶¶
00:35:13We and I both are survivors.
00:35:15Yeah.
00:35:17We didn't know that because he was like,
00:35:19I went through prostate, I was like,
00:35:21well, this is where my port.
00:35:23Yeah, I'm a year and a half out of prostate cancer.
00:35:26I'll be three years out in July.
00:35:28¶¶
00:35:32The vast majority of land is owned by the state of Alabama,
00:35:36but you have these swaths of land that aren't.
00:35:39So I wanted to map the land ownership of these sites.
00:35:42This tract, for instance, is owned by Chippewa Lakes.
00:35:46The mayor family land is called Chippewa Lakes.
00:35:50¶¶
00:35:52There's a sign.
00:35:54¶¶
00:35:56That's another one right there.
00:35:58They're like right next to each other.
00:36:00When you look at the larger Delta map,
00:36:02everything outlined in this lime green
00:36:04are tracts that are owned by Chippewa Lakes.
00:36:07¶¶
00:36:09When you sit with that knowledge
00:36:11and you internalize the fact
00:36:13that the mayors are leasing to companies
00:36:15that are contributing to health complications of the residents,
00:36:18it's astounding that the contours of injustice
00:36:22from 1860 to 2019,
00:36:25in terms of who is doing harm unto whom,
00:36:28that those things are still cleavaged along the same people,
00:36:34the descendants of the mayors
00:36:36and the descendants of the Clotilda.
00:36:38¶¶
00:36:48¶¶
00:37:13So if we know anything about African cosmology,
00:37:16when you are disconnected from your ancestors,
00:37:20if you knew nothing of your, say, grandmother,
00:37:23if you're disconnected from your ancestors,
00:37:25you're continuously going to be wandering
00:37:27through the world lost, misguided, without direction.
00:37:31And so being connected to your ancestors' past
00:37:34keep you connected
00:37:36and keep you on the right path, in a sense.
00:37:38¶¶
00:37:48This is one farm of a family heritage
00:37:52which can be passed on to your descendants.
00:38:00Many black people don't know who they are.
00:38:03They don't know where they came from.
00:38:05They don't know who their ancestors were.
00:38:08And they would like to know
00:38:11how many of these things were done on purpose.
00:38:15If it were done so,
00:38:17you would never be able to find out who you were
00:38:20or find out your ancestry.
00:38:23But everybody wants to know something
00:38:27about their ancestors.
00:38:29¶¶
00:38:34¶¶
00:38:36What's this, Mrs. Hood?
00:38:38What's this?
00:38:40We think it's the parking for Charlie Gray.
00:38:43This came out of the graveyard.
00:38:45Yeah, right.
00:38:47That was a good taco.
00:38:49You feel me?
00:38:51You know you're on holy ground.
00:38:53How am I going to define the terms
00:38:56by which I live?
00:38:58When you see it transpiring
00:39:00in a place that's successful,
00:39:02that's a holy spot.
00:39:04I'm talking about Lewis Quarters
00:39:06being a place where Charlie Lewis said,
00:39:09I'm going to rear my family
00:39:11and I'm going to break them off
00:39:13with a piece of land
00:39:15and they're going to have their own land
00:39:17and they're going to do their best.
00:39:19This is my grandmother's brother's house.
00:39:21They built this by hand.
00:39:23And unfortunately,
00:39:24the tycoons of the lumber business
00:39:26saw fit to continue
00:39:28to encroach upon their land.
00:39:30Now this is Lewis's Quarters
00:39:32and this parcel of land
00:39:34was bought in 1870.
00:39:38But it's Lorna Woods and them
00:39:40who say, wait a second,
00:39:42we can fight this by telling the story.
00:39:44All of the descendants
00:39:46from the Quotilda and all their ancestors.
00:39:48By the rivers of Babylon.
00:39:50The fact that they hold the festival
00:39:52in that space,
00:39:54the relic,
00:39:56for lack of a better term,
00:39:58keeps them folks
00:40:00from completely taking the land.
00:40:12That's where Charlie was buried
00:40:14and his wife,
00:40:16Maggie Lewis,
00:40:18and some of our siblings
00:40:20and our uncles
00:40:22and stuff were buried
00:40:24here at Lot 38.
00:40:27The lumber yard
00:40:29took part of the graveyard.
00:40:31We've lived with the trauma.
00:40:33Some of us have the scars of cancer
00:40:35that bear witness to the trauma.
00:40:38Right?
00:40:40And we ain't trying to solve it.
00:40:42I think that's, you know,
00:40:44yeah, the Gulf Lumber
00:40:46has encompassed Lewis Quarters.
00:40:48I'm not really trying to solve that.
00:40:50Yeah, it's a travesty.
00:40:52You live with it.
00:40:54It's a curse.
00:40:56You name it.
00:40:58And once you name it,
00:41:00then all the medicinal things
00:41:02start to happen.
00:41:04Once you name something,
00:41:06you can tell it what to do.
00:41:24Zora Neale Hurston
00:41:26died in 1960
00:41:28in relative obscurity
00:41:30and was laid to rest
00:41:32in an unmarked grave
00:41:34in a segregated cemetery
00:41:36in Eatonville, Florida.
00:41:38Waste of bullets
00:41:42Get on the road
00:41:44Inquire deep
00:41:46It's five o'clock
00:41:48Come on up on that cover, buddy.
00:41:50Come on up on that cover
00:41:52unless you want some trouble
00:41:53Come on
00:41:55Years later,
00:41:57moved by Hurston's work,
00:41:59the writer Alice Walker
00:42:01championed its rediscovery.
00:42:03She also located
00:42:05Hurston's grave
00:42:07and saw to it
00:42:09that it got a proper headstone.
00:42:19Zora Neale Hurston's books
00:42:20are now on school reading list
00:42:22across America.
00:42:25For Africatown,
00:42:27Barracoon's publication
00:42:29means that Cudgell's voice
00:42:31can finally be heard.
00:42:39We are descendants
00:42:41of the last slave ship
00:42:43to dock here.
00:42:45That's our home.
00:42:47Those people are gone.
00:42:48So the descendants
00:42:50should be the ones
00:42:52who have the say
00:42:54on what goes on.
00:42:56I mean, this book came out.
00:42:58All this stuff that came out,
00:43:00we haven't did nothing
00:43:02for Plateau.
00:43:04Go through Plateau.
00:43:06I mean, it looks like woods
00:43:08and stuff out there, man.
00:43:10Excuse me.
00:43:12So all I'm saying is
00:43:14this is the first time
00:43:16this group that includes
00:43:18and be together
00:43:20and form, for lack of a better word,
00:43:22a board of directors
00:43:24for the Descendants Association.
00:43:26So once we get that in place
00:43:28and we start talking about
00:43:30things we need,
00:43:32we've got to get a constitution.
00:43:34We've got all kinds of things.
00:43:36You know, those people
00:43:38in that cemetery,
00:43:40you know they count on us, man?
00:43:42You know that?
00:43:44When I found out,
00:43:46you know those people
00:43:48have been there all the time.
00:43:50It's just the idea
00:43:52of the consequences.
00:43:54Then the dirty little secrets
00:43:56that everybody's been hiding,
00:43:58then they're going to have
00:43:59to be stolen.
00:44:01See, that's what people
00:44:02don't understand.
00:44:04It's about these dirty
00:44:05little secrets.
00:44:07When you raise that
00:44:08quote tiller,
00:44:09it's going to be stolen.
00:44:11It's going to be stolen.
00:44:13It's going to be stolen.
00:44:15It's going to be stolen.
00:44:16When you raise that quote tiller,
00:44:18oh my God.
00:44:26The archeological work
00:44:28that we do is like CSI, right?
00:44:30We get clues and try to help
00:44:32tell the story
00:44:33and solve this crime.
00:44:35It takes a lot of money
00:44:36to do this sort of work.
00:44:38And there's no treasure
00:44:39chest of gold on these vessels.
00:44:41And folks want to forget
00:44:43more so than remember
00:44:44the slave trade.
00:44:46But we have to get beyond
00:44:47the shame and the silence.
00:44:50I'm an investigative reporter
00:44:52and I came out
00:44:54to try and find the ship
00:44:55because nobody was looking for it.
00:44:57I've been here 20 years
00:44:59and had heard a little bit
00:45:00of the story.
00:45:01So I went to the
00:45:02Mobile Archives
00:45:03and in the papers
00:45:04of William Foster
00:45:05and Timothy Mayer,
00:45:06there was a discrepancy.
00:45:08So Foster said
00:45:09they unloaded the slaves
00:45:10at 12 Mile Island
00:45:11and he set the ship on fire
00:45:12and sunk it.
00:45:1320 years later,
00:45:14Mayer gave an interview
00:45:15where he said
00:45:16we took the slaves
00:45:17off the ship
00:45:18and sailed it
00:45:19further north up
00:45:20into Bayou Connaught
00:45:21and burned it.
00:45:22Well, Mayer
00:45:23was still scared
00:45:24about being arrested
00:45:25even 20 years later
00:45:26and it was a crime
00:45:27punishable by death.
00:45:28So I think Mayer
00:45:29gave that interview
00:45:30and specifically lied
00:45:31to lead people
00:45:33to the wrong area
00:45:34so they wouldn't
00:45:35find the ship.
00:45:36A lot of influential
00:45:37people involved
00:45:38in all this, see?
00:45:39They don't want it
00:45:40to be found.
00:45:41They want it to be found.
00:45:42So what do you do?
00:45:43You play somebody
00:45:44and tell them,
00:45:45oh, it's not there.
00:45:46You're wasting your time.
00:45:47You know?
00:45:48And so what do you do?
00:45:50You look where
00:45:51they tell you it's not.
00:45:56The last slave ship
00:45:58was at the end
00:45:59of its voyage.
00:46:02The tug avoided
00:46:03the Mobile River.
00:46:05As the crew tilled
00:46:06the pass opposite
00:46:07of Mobile,
00:46:09the clock in the
00:46:10old Spanish
00:46:11clock struck 11.
00:46:14And the watchman's
00:46:15voice flowed
00:46:17over the city
00:46:18and across the marsh.
00:46:2011 o'clock,
00:46:22all is well.
00:46:25And the crew tiller
00:46:26was taken
00:46:28directly to
00:46:2912 Mile Island,
00:46:32a lonely, weird
00:46:34place by night.
00:46:42Hey, this is
00:46:43Jocelyn Davis.
00:46:44I'm calling all
00:46:45the descendants
00:46:46to let them know
00:46:47that they found
00:46:48the clotilde.
00:46:49We're here.
00:46:50I just finished
00:46:51a meeting with
00:46:52the Alabama
00:46:53Historical Commission.
00:46:54They found the clotilde.
00:46:55They found the clotilde.
00:46:56They did confirm
00:46:57that it is the ship.
00:46:58I know it's on the news,
00:46:59but...
00:47:00It's going out
00:47:01to the world today.
00:47:02We've got to get
00:47:03organized, Joe.
00:47:04Yeah, we were
00:47:05talking about that.
00:47:06We've got to make sure
00:47:07that things are done.
00:47:08Not just tomorrow
00:47:09and next week
00:47:10but forever.
00:47:11I want you to call
00:47:12and tell everybody,
00:47:13I'm getting ready
00:47:14to call Gary.
00:47:15I'm trying to get
00:47:16everybody,
00:47:17all the descendants.
00:47:18This is Jocelyn.
00:47:20Jocelyn from
00:47:21Africatown.
00:47:25The first people
00:47:26to lay hands on
00:47:27the last American
00:47:28slave ship
00:47:29in 160 years,
00:47:31a newspaper reporter,
00:47:33a man who owns
00:47:34an auto mechanic shop.
00:47:35We have pictures.
00:47:36We have proof.
00:47:37We found it.
00:47:39Ben had some
00:47:40good clues
00:47:41and went down
00:47:42and found a piece of it.
00:47:44Not the appropriate
00:47:45thing to do.
00:47:46I just frame it like that
00:47:47to mess with
00:47:48an archaeological
00:47:49site like that.
00:47:50But we came back
00:47:52and did the forensics
00:47:53on that site
00:47:54because we were already
00:47:55located as one
00:47:56of the prime sites
00:47:57and that was it.
00:48:00And I'm proud
00:48:01of my role in it
00:48:02because I know
00:48:03what this is going
00:48:04to mean for Africatown
00:48:05and I think that's so cool.
00:48:09I remember, yeah,
00:48:10the very first time
00:48:11the divers brought
00:48:12some material up
00:48:13from the Clotilda.
00:48:15It was a very
00:48:19moving moment
00:48:20at least for me.
00:48:21He brought it on board
00:48:22and said,
00:48:23wow, this is it.
00:48:24This is a piece
00:48:25of the Clotilda.
00:48:26The last vessel
00:48:28that commercialized
00:48:29and commodified
00:48:30black bodies
00:48:31in the U.S.
00:48:32right here
00:48:33in my hand.
00:48:35You know,
00:48:36and we got a whole
00:48:37African-American community
00:48:38still very much
00:48:39connected to this.
00:48:40You know, I think
00:48:41my first thought was,
00:48:43really seriously,
00:48:44was of Kojo Lewis
00:48:45and his desire
00:48:48most of his life
00:48:49to get back home.
00:48:56This would be
00:48:57the first slave ship
00:48:59found off the coast
00:49:00of America.
00:49:02Yeah, they had never
00:49:03found one off
00:49:04the coast of America.
00:49:06Right here.
00:49:09This is history.
00:49:10I mean, it's real history.
00:49:13This is something.
00:49:14You gotta jump on this thing
00:49:15because if you let it go,
00:49:17it's gonna be gone.
00:49:19You know,
00:49:20we just found
00:49:21a great big old dinosaur
00:49:22nobody ever knew
00:49:23was out there.
00:49:24So we gotta do
00:49:25the right thing.
00:49:26So what is the right thing?
00:49:28Just to hear
00:49:29those simple words,
00:49:30we found it.
00:49:32I got chills
00:49:33being alive
00:49:34today
00:49:36to be able to
00:49:37experience this
00:49:39is just breathtaking.
00:49:43We've never
00:49:45had
00:49:48the opportunity
00:49:49to embrace
00:49:50our history.
00:49:53It's never been valued.
00:49:56And so
00:49:58this is the first
00:49:59instance where
00:50:01this one group of people
00:50:02can actually
00:50:03say where
00:50:04they came from.
00:50:06I have no idea
00:50:07where my
00:50:08African ancestors
00:50:09came from.
00:50:11But this is
00:50:12one group
00:50:13that can do that.
00:50:15And
00:50:16with a sense of
00:50:17pride
00:50:18that that brings,
00:50:21the African American
00:50:22community
00:50:24for one time
00:50:26can say
00:50:28this is real,
00:50:29this is us,
00:50:30these people are
00:50:31part of us.
00:50:32We are part of them.
00:50:34And
00:50:35we won't have to
00:50:36wonder anymore,
00:50:37yes,
00:50:38this actually
00:50:39happened,
00:50:40and we are
00:50:41validated.
00:50:42To me,
00:50:43it's the validation
00:50:44of the African
00:50:45American community.
00:51:02On Thursday,
00:51:03there'll be a big
00:51:04press conference
00:51:05at the community center.
00:51:06You're gonna find out
00:51:07who's been talking
00:51:08and who's just been
00:51:09talking and jiving.
00:51:10The juiciest elements
00:51:11of how this all develops
00:51:12will be
00:51:13how and if
00:51:14the Mayer family
00:51:15themselves
00:51:16come to participate.
00:51:17Unlikely as it is,
00:51:18it's unavoidable.
00:51:20What they,
00:51:21I think,
00:51:22least want to happen
00:51:23is to become
00:51:24symbolic slaveholders
00:51:25for all the other
00:51:26unknown slaveholders.
00:51:27But they will
00:51:28inevitably be the avatar
00:51:29for what it means
00:51:30to be a silent,
00:51:31complicit,
00:51:32responsible party
00:51:33in the question
00:51:34of reparations.
00:51:35It's,
00:51:36it's too,
00:51:37too vivid,
00:51:38too visceral
00:51:39to pretend like
00:51:40it doesn't exist.
00:51:41A lot of questions,
00:51:42no doubt.
00:51:46So the ship
00:51:47lays right here,
00:51:48kind of from that tree
00:51:49to this one here,
00:51:50and it's about
00:51:51five or six feet
00:51:52off the bank.
00:51:53It makes a lot of sense
00:51:54because supposedly
00:51:55they burned it at anchor,
00:51:56so it would've been
00:51:57anchored right here
00:51:58where they could've
00:51:59easily moved
00:52:00half of it
00:52:01into the woods.
00:52:02Um,
00:52:03and then the captives,
00:52:04they watched the ship
00:52:05that had just brought
00:52:06them from Africa
00:52:07lit on fire,
00:52:08and then their captors
00:52:09left them here
00:52:10in the swamp.
00:52:11And they were here
00:52:12for two weeks
00:52:13until they were split
00:52:14up into three groups
00:52:15and put on three
00:52:16different plantations.
00:52:17The most unusual thing
00:52:18about figuring out
00:52:19it was right there
00:52:20was this red marker
00:52:21right over there
00:52:22that has the
00:52:23mare family name on it.
00:52:25And that clued me in
00:52:26to go back
00:52:27in the historical record,
00:52:28and I discovered
00:52:29this entire shoreline
00:52:30was owned by
00:52:31the mare family.
00:52:32Now, if I'm bringing
00:52:33slaves in on a ship
00:52:34and I'm worried
00:52:35that I'm being chased
00:52:36by the government
00:52:37and I need to hide them,
00:52:38I'm gonna put them
00:52:39on my own property.
00:52:40You know,
00:52:41and their plantation
00:52:42was right there
00:52:43where the paper mill is.
00:52:44So it was a piece of cake
00:52:45to sit on your front porch
00:52:46and lean back
00:52:47smoking a pipe
00:52:48and look up the river
00:52:49and laugh about
00:52:50what's going on.
00:52:51It's right there.
00:52:52Yeah, they would've been
00:52:53able to see the fire
00:52:54from their house.
00:52:55Yeah.
00:52:56I strongly believe
00:52:57that what's gonna happen
00:52:58here is people
00:52:59are gonna start
00:53:00coming out of the woodworks.
00:53:01I think the book of secrets
00:53:02is gonna be opened.
00:53:04And the truth
00:53:05is gonna be known
00:53:06and that's that.
00:53:13One of the things
00:53:14I love about being a reporter
00:53:15is that I have this
00:53:16sort of license
00:53:17to ask questions.
00:53:19I have a lot of patience
00:53:20for digging through
00:53:21public records,
00:53:22lawsuits,
00:53:23police reports.
00:53:25Jack Friend
00:53:26was a businessman
00:53:27who grew up in Mobile.
00:53:28His father was an executive
00:53:29at one of the
00:53:30Africatown paper companies.
00:53:32When the Union vessels
00:53:33discovered the ruse,
00:53:37it was too late.
00:53:38Lifelong history buff
00:53:39is sort of
00:53:40crowning achievement
00:53:41as an amateur historian
00:53:42as a history of
00:53:43the Battle of Mobile Bay.
00:53:44But he wanted to have
00:53:45this dual legacy of that
00:53:47and finding the Clotilda.
00:53:49But he never found it.
00:53:52It is pretty clear
00:53:53that he was going on
00:53:54intel that he got
00:53:55from the mayors.
00:53:56He had an office
00:53:57in the same building
00:53:58as Gus Mayer Jr.
00:54:00And I have a letter
00:54:01where he says,
00:54:02thanks for bringing me
00:54:03into your office
00:54:04and showing me the spot
00:54:05where you think
00:54:06the Clotilda is.
00:54:07There is also a letter
00:54:08where the sender is
00:54:09A-M-I-I-I
00:54:11and the recipient
00:54:12is A-M-J-R.
00:54:14And it's pretty clear
00:54:15that A-M-I-I-I
00:54:16is Augustin Mayer III
00:54:17and that he was
00:54:18writing it to his father,
00:54:19Augustin Jr.
00:54:21It's dated November 21st
00:54:22of 1994.
00:54:23It says,
00:54:24this date I received
00:54:25a call from R.V. Williams
00:54:26intended for you.
00:54:27After speaking with you,
00:54:28I informed him
00:54:29that you felt
00:54:30the vessel simply
00:54:31should be left
00:54:32to rest in peace.
00:54:33He seemed to agree,
00:54:34commenting that it would
00:54:35be quite expensive
00:54:36to raise even a portion of it.
00:54:37He reports that he had
00:54:38no trouble
00:54:39locating the vessel
00:54:40as the stubs of the
00:54:41foremasts protrude
00:54:42above the waterline
00:54:43in low water.
00:54:44So it seems as if
00:54:45they knew exactly
00:54:46where it was
00:54:47and intentionally
00:54:48misdirected Jack Friend.
00:54:49You can never be
00:54:50100% certain.
00:54:51Like, who knows
00:54:52what they would say?
00:54:53You know, who knows
00:54:54what else might be
00:54:55in the paper trail
00:54:56that I haven't found yet even.
00:54:57But yeah,
00:54:58it seems pretty clear
00:54:59that this is a smoking gun.
00:55:01bass & drums play softly
00:55:19singing in Native American
00:55:21language
00:55:30bass & drums play softly
00:55:52I've been privileged
00:55:53in my 47-year career
00:55:55to be able to tell families
00:55:57that their loved ones
00:55:58have finally been found
00:55:59and with tears
00:56:00share a moment with them.
00:56:02But never before
00:56:03have I been as humbled
00:56:04and as privileged
00:56:06as I am
00:56:07to have been allowed
00:56:08to work on this.
00:56:10So with that,
00:56:12is it Clotilda?
00:56:14I believe it is.
00:56:15And so did the team,
00:56:16and more importantly,
00:56:17so do several colleagues
00:56:19around the country
00:56:20and around the world
00:56:21that we sent this to
00:56:22for peer review.
00:56:25As it turns out,
00:56:26it's more or less
00:56:27in a straight line
00:56:28from where Captain Foster said
00:56:30he transferred the people
00:56:32off of Clotilda
00:56:33on that night.
00:56:34It sunk in 20 feet of water,
00:56:36which is exactly what he said.
00:56:38We pulled the records
00:56:39of some 1,500 schooners.
00:56:42What we found
00:56:43was that there was
00:56:44only one schooner
00:56:45that was 86 feet long,
00:56:4623 feet in width,
00:56:48with a 6'11 depth of hold
00:56:49and 120 tons,
00:56:50and that was Clotilda.
00:56:54We worked with
00:56:55a forensic fire investigator,
00:56:56a crime investigator,
00:56:57that showed evidence
00:56:58of burnings
00:56:59with dimpling from burning
00:57:00in some sites of charcoal,
00:57:01and we found those
00:57:02generally scattered
00:57:03around the outlines
00:57:05of the ship's sides,
00:57:07whereas if burned,
00:57:08those would have fallen
00:57:09into the water
00:57:10and been extinguished.
00:57:11We also had heard stories
00:57:13about the wreck
00:57:14being dynamited.
00:57:15This wreck does show
00:57:16the signs of having
00:57:17been dynamited.
00:57:18Some of the planks
00:57:19were more freshly broken,
00:57:21and so to that end,
00:57:26I have a sense
00:57:27that this wreck
00:57:28has not ever been
00:57:29completely lost,
00:57:30at least to some.
00:57:31Maybe they didn't know
00:57:32what its identity was,
00:57:34but there are signs
00:57:35of disturbance on the wreck,
00:57:37and this looked deliberate,
00:57:39and it was
00:57:40the science class thing.
00:57:42So the other day,
00:57:43I was eager to shout out Ben,
00:57:46because he was thinking
00:57:47when he'd gone there
00:57:48that he was the first
00:57:49to touch it.
00:57:50Well, as it turns out,
00:57:51I was wrong.
00:57:52Somebody touched it
00:57:53decades ago
00:57:54and it's still gone.
00:58:02It's one thing, as I've known,
00:58:03to study history.
00:58:04It's another thing
00:58:05to have grown up
00:58:06knowing history,
00:58:07particularly of your own family.
00:58:08It's yet another to touch it
00:58:11and to see it
00:58:12physically there before you.
00:58:14Jim worked very closely
00:58:15with our artists
00:58:16at National Geographic
00:58:17to create a wonderful
00:58:19illustration
00:58:20of that fateful voyage.
00:58:22Take a look at this.
00:58:23I wouldn't necessarily
00:58:24term it wonderful.
00:58:32This is as close
00:58:33as we think we can come
00:58:35until further excavation,
00:58:37but I think this
00:58:38fairly accurately represents
00:58:39Clifftilda,
00:58:40and as far as we know
00:58:41from what Little has said
00:58:42by Captain Foster,
00:58:44what the conditions were like
00:58:46for your ancestors.
00:58:50Now that we've established
00:58:51the fact that this
00:58:52was an illegal operation,
00:58:54a crime was perpetrated
00:58:56against our people.
00:58:58The pain and suffering
00:58:59that my people have had to endure
00:59:02throughout this whole process
00:59:05is a tremendous burden
00:59:06for us to have to deal with.
00:59:08The hurt is what
00:59:09I'm most concerned about.
00:59:11We need to be
00:59:12taking care of that.
00:59:13Some dollars need to come
00:59:14to the descendants for that.
00:59:16Some respiration or something
00:59:17need to come
00:59:18to the direct descendants.
00:59:21My hope is that your stories
00:59:25now being heard again
00:59:28and with the find
00:59:30will move things forward
00:59:32for what ever can be done
00:59:35in anything at all
00:59:36that could be done
00:59:37for Africatown
00:59:38and the people of it,
00:59:39and it comes back for me.
00:59:41I'm just a ship-nerd archaeologist.
00:59:44I've done, I think,
00:59:45what we can do now.
00:59:47Kamau, would you like
00:59:48to come up and say anything?
00:59:49Yes.
00:59:50You were actually a diver
00:59:51in the water?
00:59:52Yeah, I had a question
00:59:54this morning.
00:59:55Absolutely.
00:59:56Thank you.
00:59:57I've touched the word
01:00:02of slave vessels.
01:00:04I've investigated,
01:00:07I've documented,
01:00:08worked on the efforts
01:00:09of several slave vessels.
01:00:10I just got back from Costa Rica
01:00:14doing some work down there
01:00:15on a couple of vessels.
01:00:18I'm going to hold it together here.
01:00:22It's like,
01:00:25this is a crime against humanity, right?
01:00:28This is a crime against humanity.
01:00:30We've got sufficient evidence
01:00:32to know that a crime
01:00:33has been committed here.
01:00:35But there is a lot of pain,
01:00:37as you can see,
01:00:38me being emotional,
01:00:40and this community
01:00:41has suffered tremendously.
01:00:43Amen.
01:00:45As we talk about healing
01:00:48and reconciliation,
01:00:50there has to be,
01:00:52in that discussion,
01:00:53a sense of justice.
01:00:56How do we frame
01:00:57that question of justice?
01:00:58You alluded to reparations,
01:01:00but you all should come up
01:01:03with what justice means to you.
01:01:06Now it's time for justice.
01:01:09Now it's time for justice.
01:01:12applause
01:01:17A curriculum that will tell
01:01:19about the history
01:01:20of the last absence
01:01:22who came to Mobile in 1859
01:01:24preceding the Civil War.
01:01:27This could be our
01:01:29great tourist exhibition.
01:01:31Absolutely.
01:01:32So much potential.
01:01:33I think it's time
01:01:34for not only this community,
01:01:36but the United States as a whole
01:01:38to focus on slavery.
01:01:40I appreciate
01:01:41what you guys have done.
01:01:43And I just would like,
01:01:45as me coming up
01:01:46in this community,
01:01:48me being a part
01:01:49of the descendants
01:01:50of the Cotillo,
01:01:51I would like for you guys
01:01:53to keep us at the table
01:01:55as a community.
01:01:56Absolutely.
01:01:57So one thing I would say,
01:01:59and I'm with the Smithsonian
01:02:00National Museum
01:02:01of African American History
01:02:02and Culture.
01:02:03The one thing I would stress
01:02:04for everyone in this room
01:02:05is if you have
01:02:07your family history,
01:02:10you need to bring it out.
01:02:12There are several books
01:02:13out right now, you know.
01:02:15The really fascinating one
01:02:17out here in Kujo Lewis'
01:02:19first person voice,
01:02:20and Zora Neale Hurston
01:02:22did not edit it,
01:02:23even though the publishers
01:02:25asked her to,
01:02:26to change his dialect,
01:02:27is Bearer Coombs.
01:02:28Because she wanted people
01:02:29to read in his voice.
01:02:31And that's why it took
01:02:32so long for it to be published.
01:02:34It's really sobering.
01:02:41It just became real.
01:02:43Even though this is
01:02:44just a depiction,
01:02:45this is not a real photograph,
01:02:46it just really became real.
01:02:48I can really feel
01:02:49their pain right here.
01:02:50I feel a connection
01:02:51to those people.
01:02:53And it breaks my heart.
01:02:54It really just...
01:02:56I just really grieve
01:02:57for these people
01:02:58that I don't even know.
01:03:00I'll go process
01:03:01all this tonight.
01:03:02I really, I can't
01:03:04I'm right here.
01:03:15It's a tremendous tragedy,
01:03:16right, a very painful tragedy.
01:03:19And victims tend to be
01:03:20more forgiving in a sense
01:03:23because they've had
01:03:24that experience
01:03:25and don't want others
01:03:26to experience it.
01:03:27That's sort of like
01:03:28a human intuition
01:03:29sort of thing.
01:03:30But in this case,
01:03:31in terms of the trade,
01:03:32in the history of humans
01:03:33moving around the world,
01:03:35there's never been
01:03:36the forced migration
01:03:37of so many people.
01:03:38The largest forced migration
01:03:39of humans in the world
01:03:41and the consequences of that
01:03:42in terms of the atrocities
01:03:44and the horrors and so forth.
01:03:46And so people tend to,
01:03:48in some sense,
01:03:49want to forgive and forget
01:03:51so they can heal.
01:03:53And that forgetting
01:03:54is disguised as a way
01:03:55to medicate the healing
01:03:57by forgetting.
01:03:59We don't have to think about it.
01:04:01But the imbalance of injustice
01:04:04is still there.
01:04:23All the islands
01:04:24are going to line up back there.
01:04:26All right, how you feel?
01:04:27I got the shot.
01:04:28Go in, go in, go in, go in.
01:04:30I think a lot of people,
01:04:33when they talk about reparations,
01:04:34I think they think
01:04:35that reparations is going to be
01:04:36like a stimulus package.
01:04:38Like all black people
01:04:39are going to get
01:04:40a certain amount of money
01:04:41and that's going to make up for it.
01:04:42But I have no idea
01:04:44how it's supposed to work.
01:04:46I don't know how you decide
01:04:47that these people
01:04:48who are here today
01:04:49owe these people
01:04:50who are here today anything.
01:04:52This community is not
01:04:53the only community
01:04:55that has this story.
01:04:56All these black people
01:04:57came over on some ship
01:04:59and I still don't know
01:05:01what my idea of justice is.
01:05:04As long as Timothy Mayer
01:05:05is not here,
01:05:06I don't think there's
01:05:07anybody to punish.
01:05:09So I don't think
01:05:10that there is any justice.
01:05:14It's one of those things that...
01:05:18Hmm, I don't think
01:05:19I want to say that.
01:05:22It kind of feels like
01:05:25it kind of feels like
01:05:26oh well.
01:05:28Like a lot of people would say
01:05:30like people tell black people
01:05:32all the time
01:05:33that was 400 years ago,
01:05:35get over it.
01:05:37I don't feel like
01:05:38get over it.
01:05:39But I just kind of
01:05:40when I say oh well
01:05:41it's like what is there
01:05:42to do about it?
01:05:44Well certainly there's no one
01:05:45to punish criminally
01:05:47at this point
01:05:48because Timothy Mayer
01:05:50is dead and gone.
01:05:52But civilly,
01:05:55certainly there are
01:05:57assets that he passed along
01:06:02to his descendants
01:06:04or his estate
01:06:06that could possibly be
01:06:09directly linked
01:06:11to these activities.
01:06:14The way that I look at it
01:06:16is like the people
01:06:17that actually committed
01:06:18the crime are dead
01:06:19and I don't think
01:06:20you can really pass a crime
01:06:21on to your descendants.
01:06:23But we know about
01:06:24the last year.
01:06:25We know that they sold slaves
01:06:27to other people
01:06:29and a bootleg of 100 slaves
01:06:31could gross you
01:06:32like $150,000.
01:06:34$150,000 gross
01:06:36was a lot of money back then.
01:06:37It's a lot of money now.
01:06:39And see if my family
01:06:41got to be rich
01:06:43and still rich
01:06:45by doing bootleg slavery,
01:06:47you really don't want that
01:06:49and you're a good steward
01:06:50in the community.
01:06:51You don't have anything
01:06:52to do with what your
01:06:53great-great-great-grandfather did
01:06:55but you got the money.
01:06:57And somebody maybe
01:06:59tried to get some
01:07:00reparation from you.
01:07:02So I wouldn't talk
01:07:03about it either.
01:07:09We talked about the cotilda
01:07:11all our lives.
01:07:12We heard about this ship,
01:07:14this ship, this ship, this ship.
01:07:16My dad would say,
01:07:17y'all need to learn,
01:07:18you need to know,
01:07:19you need to know,
01:07:20you need to know,
01:07:21you need to know,
01:07:22and you need to know.
01:07:23But it wasn't nothing
01:07:25that I talked about
01:07:26to my friends about.
01:07:30It was just a shameful thing.
01:07:33Shameful means, you know,
01:07:34who wants to talk about,
01:07:36you know, being captured
01:07:38and being brought over like that.
01:07:43Good morning, how you doing?
01:07:45On fire?
01:07:46Can we get you a flyer?
01:07:48We're having a celebration
01:07:49on May 30th for the
01:07:50finding of the cotilda ship.
01:07:52Okay.
01:07:53I'll be there.
01:07:54No doubt.
01:07:55Okay.
01:07:56I'm proud of her now.
01:07:57I mean, I don't have any fear.
01:08:00Not coming to your house.
01:08:01Not coming to your house.
01:08:03I'm just so proud of my family
01:08:05and I don't want to say hate
01:08:07but I just,
01:08:09I hate that I really
01:08:10wasn't into it back then
01:08:12but I'm glad that I am now
01:08:14because I need to,
01:08:16it's time for me to
01:08:18put my boots on
01:08:19and start doing this thing.
01:08:26Oh, that's the lumber yard
01:08:28by Lewis Quarters.
01:08:29That's Gulf of Lumber.
01:08:30Gulf of Lumber.
01:08:31That's the mayor
01:08:32of the city of Mobile.
01:08:33That's their company.
01:08:35Yep.
01:08:37I assure you that this is something
01:08:38we do not take lightly
01:08:40and we will work to be
01:08:41the best steward.
01:08:42Bringing welcome on behalf
01:08:43of the city is Mayor Stimson.
01:08:48Thank you, Walter.
01:08:49In Mobile, we say
01:08:50we're born to celebrate.
01:08:52I think I'm on solid ground
01:08:53when I say this.
01:08:54There has not been
01:08:55a bigger celebration
01:08:56in Africatown,
01:08:58certainly, I don't think,
01:08:59in my lifetime
01:09:00and so,
01:09:01as the city representatives,
01:09:03we're here to assure you
01:09:05that we will do our part
01:09:07to make sure
01:09:08that the excitement
01:09:09that we have today
01:09:11will continue
01:09:12with every step of the way
01:09:14of what the future is
01:09:16for the Clotilda
01:09:18because there is a story
01:09:19to be told.
01:09:33And as I stand here today,
01:09:35I want to tell all Mobile
01:09:38that within our respective hearts,
01:09:40the healing has begun.
01:09:42People shy away
01:09:43from slavery
01:09:44and what it represents,
01:09:45so now we can embrace
01:09:46that pain that slavery
01:09:48has held over us
01:09:49for so many years.
01:09:50I think really,
01:09:51as we absolutely
01:09:52do not forget the past,
01:09:53we've got to cast
01:09:54our eye to the future
01:09:56and so,
01:09:57I've got a few things
01:09:58that I would say about that
01:09:59and give them an opportunity.
01:10:00Thank you.
01:10:01Thank you.
01:10:02drumming
01:10:09We've gone through
01:10:10our era of segregation,
01:10:12we've gone through
01:10:13our era of integration,
01:10:14and now we're back
01:10:16to an era of completeness.
01:10:18Okay, good deal.
01:10:20Okay.
01:10:22Okay, I'll meet you
01:10:23right there.
01:10:29My mom says completeness.
01:10:31Like, what I felt today,
01:10:35I feel a circle.
01:10:36Like, I feel we went
01:10:38all the way back
01:10:39to the beginning.
01:10:40I'm trying to be joyous
01:10:42about everything,
01:10:43but I also feel
01:10:44the levels that are
01:10:46about to allow
01:10:47our history to be taken,
01:10:49the same way
01:10:50our people were taken.
01:10:53There's a lot going on,
01:10:55a lot more than meets the eye.
01:10:57I see people,
01:10:58like, on this level,
01:10:59like, on my lower level.
01:11:01I see everybody
01:11:02celebrating,
01:11:03and I see the upper level
01:11:05here, and I want to jump up
01:11:07there and talk to them,
01:11:08the people who stand
01:11:09to benefit from
01:11:11all the tourism.
01:11:13You know, that's
01:11:14what's happening,
01:11:16and we know that.
01:11:17I mean, it's fine.
01:11:18I want the city
01:11:19to benefit, of course,
01:11:20but I also want,
01:11:22I want us to keep control.
01:11:25I remember a time that,
01:11:27as a real estate agent,
01:11:28I was scared to come in here
01:11:30to bring people
01:11:31to show properties,
01:11:32and not only are people
01:11:33coming in here,
01:11:34like, the city is buying
01:11:35the properties.
01:11:36That means something.
01:11:38You know, the community
01:11:39is about to lose.
01:11:41You know,
01:11:42they don't get it together.
01:11:44It's like, by the time
01:11:45everybody stops celebrating,
01:11:46it's going to be too late.
01:11:48It's going to be another
01:11:49tourist stop that, you know,
01:11:50me as a descendant
01:11:51can come and visit.
01:11:54I would like for us
01:11:55to have a lot more to do
01:11:56with what it turns into.
01:11:58I don't want to be
01:11:59a part of it.
01:12:00I want to be it.
01:12:04I have no idea
01:12:05how to make that happen.
01:12:07So you want to go
01:12:09the way we came,
01:12:10Bay Bridge Road,
01:12:11or Birmingham Street?
01:12:13Yeah.
01:12:14Okay.
01:12:15I've been trying
01:12:16to take care of him
01:12:17all of his life.
01:12:19Yeah, man,
01:12:20you were impressive on that.
01:12:22I saw you on
01:12:23the worldwide screen.
01:12:24Somebody sent that to me
01:12:25from New York City.
01:12:27They said,
01:12:28do you know
01:12:29the illustrious
01:12:30Mae Jones?
01:12:31I'm serious.
01:12:32From New York City?
01:12:34We had an interview
01:12:36with Richard
01:12:38from New York Town
01:12:39last week, Thursday.
01:12:42Did you?
01:12:43Yeah, the first person
01:12:44had you as age 43.
01:12:46Ha ha ha!
01:12:47That was on Sunday's paper.
01:12:49Yeah, that's right.
01:12:50Ah, really?
01:12:52She told the truth.
01:12:55Everybody got
01:12:56the gentleman stuff?
01:12:58I think it's worthwhile
01:13:00to ascertain
01:13:01when and how
01:13:02Chippewa Lakes
01:13:03came into
01:13:04its land holdings
01:13:05and when and how
01:13:06they were sold
01:13:09and to whom.
01:13:10That that's
01:13:11relevant information
01:13:12to the overall history
01:13:13of Africatown
01:13:14and that we should
01:13:15know that
01:13:16just to understand
01:13:18the fortunes
01:13:20of the slavers
01:13:21versus the fortunes
01:13:22of the descendants.
01:13:23I mean, we know
01:13:24stories just among
01:13:25our friends,
01:13:26people that say
01:13:27that used to be
01:13:28my grandmother's
01:13:29plot of land,
01:13:30that used to be
01:13:31my uncle's land,
01:13:32that used to be
01:13:33my grandfather's land.
01:13:34At some point,
01:13:35it got scooped up
01:13:36by Chippewa Lakes.
01:13:37Now, we know
01:13:38that Chippewa Lakes
01:13:39is the name
01:13:40of the trust
01:13:41for the mail town.
01:13:42Is there a trust
01:13:43that's been sucked
01:13:44down the land
01:13:45for the sentinels?
01:13:46Do we know?
01:13:47If there is,
01:13:48I don't know
01:13:49the name of it.
01:13:50Gulf Scotch Lumber
01:13:51The contact person
01:13:52for that land
01:13:53is Fred Stimson.
01:13:54It still is
01:13:55on the tax records.
01:13:56Canfor,
01:13:57Canadian Forestry,
01:13:58purchased Gulf and
01:13:59Scotch Lumber,
01:14:00so that land
01:14:01might still be held
01:14:02by the Stimson family
01:14:03or it might be held
01:14:04by Canfor
01:14:05at this point.
01:14:06I'm not certain.
01:14:07We just have to
01:14:08make sure that
01:14:09the people know
01:14:10what's going on
01:14:11and that the community
01:14:12can get the best
01:14:13they can
01:14:14out of this thing.
01:14:15If done right,
01:14:16it could be
01:14:17very profitable
01:14:18for everybody.
01:14:19The lynching museum
01:14:20in Montgomery
01:14:21opened a year ago
01:14:22and gross profits
01:14:23surrounding the opening
01:14:24was over a billion dollars.
01:14:26Wow.
01:14:27It would have been?
01:14:28It would have been
01:14:29a billion dollars
01:14:30in one year.
01:14:31So if the thing
01:14:32is done right,
01:14:33done right,
01:14:34I got very little
01:14:35confidence
01:14:36it won't be able
01:14:37to tell anybody
01:14:38that.
01:14:39But I think
01:14:40this community
01:14:41is going to have
01:14:42a lot to say
01:14:43about it.
01:14:44It's going to be
01:14:45listened to
01:14:46by a lot of people.
01:14:48You know,
01:14:49a lot of times
01:14:50when I'm walking
01:14:51and I like to walk
01:14:52a lot,
01:14:53but I think about
01:14:54in particular
01:14:55cities like Montgomery,
01:14:56what footprint
01:14:57am I walking on
01:14:58that has walked
01:14:59this path before
01:15:00that have not had
01:15:01the privileges
01:15:02that I had?
01:15:03They made it possible
01:15:04for me to have
01:15:05the privileges
01:15:06that I have now.
01:15:07I'll never know
01:15:08those individuals
01:15:09that have walked
01:15:10this path
01:15:11that have not
01:15:12had the privileges
01:15:13that I had.
01:15:14They made it possible
01:15:15for me to have
01:15:16the privileges
01:15:17that I have now.
01:15:18I'll never know
01:15:19those individuals,
01:15:20but I know
01:15:21some of them
01:15:22walked these streets.
01:15:23The black community
01:15:24is really one community.
01:15:25In particular
01:15:26the state of Alabama
01:15:27when you start
01:15:28talking about
01:15:29Mobile and
01:15:30Montgomery and
01:15:31Selma and
01:15:32Birmingham and
01:15:33Huntsville,
01:15:34it's all connected
01:15:35because we have
01:15:36had in the past
01:15:37specifically
01:15:38depend on each other.
01:15:40Sometimes you ask
01:15:41yourself,
01:15:42people come
01:15:43and they see,
01:15:44then what do they do?
01:15:45The real test
01:15:46a lot of times
01:15:47is not in coming,
01:15:48it's what do you do
01:15:49when you leave?
01:15:50I've heard
01:15:51an unfortunate
01:15:52too many people
01:15:53say,
01:15:54I've been there.
01:15:55The real question
01:15:56is what did you do
01:15:57after you left?
01:15:58What did you do
01:15:59when you left?
01:16:00What did you do
01:16:01when you left?
01:16:02What did you do
01:16:03when you left?
01:16:04What did you do
01:16:05when you left?
01:16:06What did you do
01:16:07when you left?
01:16:08The real question
01:16:09is what did you do
01:16:10after you left?
01:16:15It becomes
01:16:16another form
01:16:17of entertainment.
01:16:20Most of the people
01:16:21who come here
01:16:22I'm sure
01:16:23have been
01:16:24blessed beyond
01:16:25imagination.
01:16:32This is just
01:16:33a blip in their lives
01:16:34unfortunately,
01:16:35just a few seconds.
01:16:36They're not going
01:16:37to do anything with it.
01:16:39They're not going
01:16:40to do anything with it.
01:16:45Anyway.
01:17:07There you go.
01:17:23This is a
01:17:25see this
01:17:26I'm so ashamed
01:17:27of this but
01:17:29this is a
01:17:30hibiscus.
01:17:32These four
01:17:33oak trees
01:17:34were planted
01:17:35planted in 1848, and these have a city easement.
01:17:39We can't do anything to the tree
01:17:41without the city's permission.
01:17:43And I thought it's on private property,
01:17:44but that's the deal.
01:17:49I lived across the street from big Gus Mayer,
01:17:54and I knew his son, little Gus, older than I am,
01:17:57but they had a house that was big,
01:18:02but it wasn't ostentatious,
01:18:04and their cars were old,
01:18:06and he had a little greenhouse in the back,
01:18:08and he grew these beautiful orchids.
01:18:10You know, it was the talk of the neighborhood.
01:18:12I didn't even think of them as rich people.
01:18:14I just thought of them as eccentric, Southern people.
01:18:19And then we all started hearing about the Clotilda,
01:18:22and nobody was surprised that the Mayers,
01:18:25that one of the Mayers had done that.
01:18:28I was thinking that, you know, I knew my grandparents,
01:18:32and both my grandfather's grandfather
01:18:35and my grandmother's grandfather
01:18:37both owned 100 slaves each.
01:18:41I didn't do it, but I'm ashamed.
01:18:44I carry guilt.
01:18:47You know, we were raised with the narrative
01:18:50that our Confederate ancestors were courageous and dashing,
01:18:54and we were never taught
01:18:56that the Confederacy was to maintain slavery.
01:19:00We were taught, but look at General Lee.
01:19:03The losers generally accept the fact that they're losers.
01:19:07They don't name schools after Joseph Mengele,
01:19:11or the Nazi, any of the losing causes.
01:19:15They don't name schools after the losers' generals,
01:19:19but in the South, we do.
01:19:20You know, the lost cause,
01:19:22but the Confederacy will rise again.
01:19:24That was mother's milk.
01:19:27Part of the complexity of growing up in the South
01:19:30and living in the South is,
01:19:32that's in the back of your head.
01:19:34You know, part of the complexity of growing up in the South
01:19:37is, that's in the back of your head.
01:20:04We're very sorry to be parted from one another.
01:20:18We cry for home.
01:20:20We took away from our people.
01:20:22We 70 days across the water from the Africa soil,
01:20:26and now they parted us from one another.
01:20:29Therefore, we cry.
01:20:31We can't help but cry, so we sang.
01:20:34Our grief so heavy, it look like we can't stand it.
01:20:37I think maybe I die in my sleep when I dream about my mama.
01:20:41Oh, Lord.
01:20:42I got a couple of missed emotions.
01:21:07It's just different things, I feel.
01:21:09I'm sitting here and I'm walking through the house,
01:21:12and most of the things I'm feeling is,
01:21:14why this a historic house?
01:21:17Like, I am happy I came,
01:21:21because, I mean, I feel like I walked
01:21:24and I've sat on chairs
01:21:27that my ancestors probably couldn't even sit in,
01:21:29and they slept in this house.
01:21:31And it seems like the pictures in the hallway,
01:21:35it's like they just telling me, like,
01:21:38you don't belong here. What you doing here?
01:21:39Even as a painter, you in my house,
01:21:42and you know you don't belong here.
01:21:45But, like, right now, just walking through the door
01:21:47of that house, when I first opened that door,
01:21:49that big door outside,
01:21:51and looked at them paintings on the wall,
01:21:53you could just tell, this place horrible.
01:21:57And maybe some good came out of this place,
01:22:00but most of it was evil.
01:22:02Most of it was.
01:22:03And that's what I feel about this.
01:22:10Mobile don't want to let go of their history.
01:22:13And as long as they can keep us, me, my people,
01:22:17on our side, not paying attention to them,
01:22:20everybody's happy.
01:22:34I'm glad all you guys are here this morning.
01:22:37You're going to have a great time.
01:22:39This is the beginning of something wonderful.
01:22:43And you are part of that beginning.
01:22:46You're the first, but you're not the last.
01:22:50Unfortunately, we have a very sad statistic
01:22:52in our community, that among young folks,
01:22:55we're leading other groups in terms of drowning.
01:22:58And that can be a very sad thing.
01:23:02And that is, that can be avoided,
01:23:04simply by learning some basic skills, right?
01:23:07And so we're going to be addressing that,
01:23:09and hopefully as our young folks learn these skills,
01:23:13begin to become critical thinkers,
01:23:16make right decisions, and become proficient in the water.
01:23:19So you're a good swimmer,
01:23:20we're going to extend that to scuba diving.
01:23:23And again, not only the world is yours,
01:23:25the universe is yours.
01:23:27This is training with a clear mission in mind.
01:23:31You know, so to get these young folks back
01:23:33connected to the water, to the marine environment.
01:23:37It is hope that they will connect to the broader missions
01:23:41that is particularly around the Clotilda.
01:23:45And they can come involved in that project
01:23:46in terms of documenting it and telling that story.
01:23:49Why would we want to learn to scuba dive anyway?
01:23:53The ancestral memory has to be restored.
01:23:55Ancestral memory has to be restored
01:23:57and connect them directly back to that memory.
01:23:59What other profession can you be studying as a scuba diver?
01:24:09Okay, that's fine.
01:24:10That'll make it to the stage.
01:24:12Well, no, no, no.
01:24:13That's in the way.
01:24:14Let's put one on this side.
01:24:21Yeah, Ted, I knew you could get a kick out of that.
01:24:23And my granddaddy was the head of that.
01:24:25Tippin' Williams.
01:24:27Tippin' Williams.
01:24:28Lieutenant Clive wants to interview you
01:24:29before he gets started.
01:24:30Oh, not right now.
01:24:32Lee Sintel from the governor's office.
01:24:34Nice to meet you.
01:24:35Very nice.
01:24:36Darren Patterson.
01:24:36Mr. Patterson.
01:24:37Clotilda Descendants Association president.
01:24:39The governor wanted me to present this new book
01:24:42about African-American history.
01:24:44Could you tell me about your hat?
01:24:46My hat is my claim to fame.
01:24:49New York Mets in 1969,
01:24:52winning the World Series and catching the last out.
01:24:55In the World Series.
01:24:56But my heart lies in this community.
01:25:00For people like Timothy Mayer,
01:25:03the idea was that that was his right to do that.
01:25:07It was his right as a man.
01:25:11It was his right as a white man.
01:25:14Historians and divers have recently discovered
01:25:17the location of the remains of the legendary slave ship.
01:25:20Now, therefore, I, governor of Alabama,
01:25:22do hereby proclaim February the 8th, 2020
01:25:26as Honor the Descendants of the Clotilda Day.
01:25:39Okay, so this is Michael Foster,
01:25:43the descendant of Captain Foster.
01:25:45I'm from Curjoe.
01:25:46Nice to meet you.
01:25:49Nice to meet you.
01:25:50Guess who that guy is over there?
01:25:54Introduce yourself to him.
01:25:56I'm Mike Foster.
01:25:57Hi, Mike Foster.
01:25:58Nice to meet you.
01:25:59He's the descendant of the Fosters.
01:26:02You know him, William Foster.
01:26:03Yeah, yeah.
01:26:04William Foster is my first cousin,
01:26:07four times in a row.
01:26:08Gary Lumber.
01:26:10Lumber, sorry.
01:26:11I don't have my hearing aids today.
01:26:12Okay, well, could you talk about the twins?
01:26:15You know the two little girls you could talk about?
01:26:17Yeah, yeah.
01:26:19Mary's my mother.
01:26:20Oh, is that right?
01:26:21Yeah, yeah.
01:26:22Oh, wow.
01:26:23My name's Ben Ray.
01:26:24I'll be right here.
01:26:25It's kind of odd because, you know,
01:26:31my relative caused all this, you know,
01:26:34to be able to come here and be welcomed like this.
01:26:39My wife was...
01:26:41I said I wouldn't go if I wasn't told, Ben.
01:26:44You know, I've talked to Darren.
01:26:47So I wouldn't have come down here
01:26:48if I was going to walk in that room
01:26:50and people were going to start throwing rocks at me.
01:26:52If we leave at 7,
01:26:54we'll definitely be back to the dock by 10.
01:26:56We going out on the water?
01:26:58Yeah, yeah.
01:26:59It's the only way to get there.
01:27:00For real, man?
01:27:02Yeah, it's in the middle of the swamp.
01:27:04You got to go by boat.
01:27:06That's how I found it.
01:27:08Oh, my God.
01:27:10Yeah, man.
01:27:12So you want to go?
01:27:13Yeah.
01:27:14And your first name is?
01:27:15Ben.
01:27:17Ben, I'm here.
01:27:18I'm the guy who found the ship.
01:27:19Okay, okay.
01:27:20Alright, alright.
01:27:21Everybody call me Pawaw.
01:27:23Alright.
01:27:24Yeah.
01:27:25Yeah, that's...
01:27:27That's a story, man.
01:27:29All right.
01:27:41We're going to run all the way up here
01:27:42and go across here
01:27:44and come down this way.
01:27:46Let's see, can I get you to get over on this side?
01:27:49Yeah.
01:27:50This boat only has one speed, wide open.
01:27:53♪♪
01:28:09Where we are right now is where the last battle was,
01:28:12which is not in the state park,
01:28:13because the state park doesn't own it.
01:28:15The people who own it, guess who, the mayors.
01:28:18So the mayors actually owned the last site of the Civil War
01:28:21where colored troops won the decisive battle.
01:28:25♪♪
01:28:34They came up here at night, and I think it all happened
01:28:36probably around 8 o'clock at night,
01:28:38because if he held dinner on the steamboat
01:28:40until he got there as his alibi,
01:28:42and they say they ate dinner at 9-something,
01:28:45I heard so many things about the ship, man.
01:28:47I heard that the ship was somewhere down there
01:28:50and caught on fire, and they jumped off the ship,
01:28:53shuffled and all kinds of stuff like that.
01:28:56So it was so many myths, you know,
01:28:59so to actually know the whole truth,
01:29:02I mean, the real truth, and, like, at one time,
01:29:05we thought that it was just the Kiwis and the Allens,
01:29:08you know, that made it off the ship.
01:29:10Now I'm coming to find out, you know, that the whole 110,
01:29:14You also talk about, like, some part,
01:29:16even though there were things that were told
01:29:18that were incorrect,
01:29:20you should still share stories with each other,
01:29:22because sometimes in those stories,
01:29:24there are some nuggets of truth,
01:29:26and someday someone can investigate
01:29:29some of those statements that were made,
01:29:31that that's important.
01:29:33There needs to be a root oral history,
01:29:37you know, people talking with each other,
01:29:39and did your family talk about this stuff?
01:29:42No, we didn't know about it.
01:29:44Yeah.
01:29:46So it's kind of a historic moment.
01:29:49I think the last time a Foster and a Lewis were here
01:29:53was that night.
01:29:54I'm serious. Wow.
01:29:56Where are you, Darren?
01:29:57I'm right here. Come on, man.
01:29:59You're a Lewis. Oh, and an Allen.
01:30:00I forgot.
01:30:02All right, so we got an Allen, a Lewis, and a Foster.
01:30:04Yeah. Okay.
01:30:06That's a historic moment.
01:30:08The last time. Yeah.
01:30:10Thank you, Bailey. I sure appreciate it.
01:30:12I don't know if there's any more writing on this,
01:30:14but from what I've read, they said the way Cujo said,
01:30:17the way that William Foster treated him on the boat,
01:30:21I mean, obviously, the conditions
01:30:23were unacceptable and degrading,
01:30:25but it sounded like he still had some respect for them.
01:30:28What he said was he's a good man,
01:30:31but he didn't say that about Timothy or Burns.
01:30:33He said the opposite.
01:30:35In fact, he said Burns was a bad man.
01:30:37So that's the only thing, the only statements
01:30:39I've really seen anything about William Foster's character
01:30:43was in terms of what Cujo said, that they were treated right.
01:30:49Now, maybe there was obviously a reason for that,
01:30:51but he didn't have to act that way towards them.
01:30:54He didn't have to, and he did.
01:30:56So that's ... I really liked reading that
01:30:59because obviously he was involved, but I mean, you know.
01:31:04It's tough for me to make a qualitative difference
01:31:06in how you treat a slave, right?
01:31:08Yeah.
01:31:10Oh, yeah, he had an investment.
01:31:11Some of these people are going to be his, so, yeah.
01:31:14Yeah.
01:31:15A good master, a bad master, it's equal in my book.
01:31:18Mm-hmm.
01:31:22Yeah, well, it is a hard, hard, hard ...
01:31:24It's a hard pill to swallow, either way you look at it.
01:31:27Yeah, it is.
01:31:28It's hard to swallow, either way you look at it.
01:31:30Yeah, it is.
01:31:58How you doing?
01:32:11No problem.
01:32:12So where are the other folks buried?
01:32:15Right here.
01:32:16How many are there?
01:32:18There's actually no exact number of how many it is.
01:32:22Like I said, a lot of people that were buried right here, they don't have names, they couldn't
01:32:27afford headstones and stuff, so a lot of these people's history is lost.
01:32:32So where is Cujo Lewis?
01:32:34Right here.
01:32:35This is it?
01:32:36Mm-hmm.
01:32:37Okay.
01:32:38Okay.
01:32:39Cool.
01:32:40I just read the book, by the way.
01:32:43What did you think of it?
01:32:45God, it's a sad story.
01:32:47I mean, it's even sad after his death.
01:32:49I mean, his kids keep dying and stuff.
01:32:53It's a dreadful story.
01:32:57Well, as a child, I thought the story was sad.
01:33:01Now, like I told them, everything Cujo stood for, he won, because we still here.
01:33:09All of his descendants still alive.
01:33:11We might, half of his last name ain't Lewis, but he still got people that's Cujo Lewis.
01:33:17So, I mean, I don't get sad about the stories no more.
01:33:20It used to make me cry, but not no more.
01:33:23He won.
01:33:24Are you a descendant of?
01:33:25Yes, I'm Emmett Lewis.
01:33:26Oh, really?
01:33:27Yes.
01:33:28Mike Fitzgerald, I wrote a history of emancipation in Mobile.
01:33:30I'm down here on a research trip.
01:33:32That's good.
01:33:33I'm having a lot of people starting to hear about his story.
01:33:36Yeah, it's all of you, man.
01:33:38That's great.
01:33:39Okay, cool.
01:33:40Really cool.
01:33:41Thank you.
01:33:42No problem.
01:33:51This history will go on, and I give you my, this is my prayer that you love your history
01:34:10enough that you want to tell it everywhere you go.
01:34:14And one of my legacies would be to make history.
01:34:17Think about how you would want it.
01:34:19How would you want the story told?
01:34:26Think like you were curating your story, and then think about your community and be like,
01:34:31now what do I need to do to get them galvanized to think like this?
01:34:37This is the Oprah Winfrey Theater where we do public programs, and then straight ahead
01:34:42is our temporary exhibition, and we have an exhibit up now that's off the chain called
01:34:46World War I.
01:34:49So imagine if, like with Cudjoe and those, being brought from the interior and seeing
01:34:54the ocean for the first time.
01:34:56And then we put images from the period of forts.
01:34:59Forts, forts, forts.
01:35:01Because we want people to see this as history in plain sight, just like Africa did.
01:35:06So instead of painting this generic sense of blackness in America, you're black, you're
01:35:12enslaved, we looked at what happened in the beginning of what became the United States.
01:35:17Because it's the American history told through the African-American lens, right?
01:35:20If you look around here, we talk about if you think black people laid down and let life
01:35:25happen to them, we didn't.
01:35:26This woman, Belinda, sued after she gained her freedom.
01:35:29She sued to get back pay for her labor.
01:35:31She sued for back pay?
01:35:33Yes, and one, how often do you hear those stories?
01:35:36That's why what you all are doing is important for people to hear these other stories.
01:35:42It's not just about the brutality.
01:35:45This is an American story.
01:35:47What brought this nation into being?
01:35:49There's human suffering.
01:35:50There's the power of the human spirit.
01:35:52Resistance, resilience, survival.
01:35:58This family, they were enslaved in South Carolina.
01:36:02They gained their freedom at the end of the Civil War.
01:36:05They fought to maintain their right to vote.
01:36:08They had a confrontation with the Klan, killed some Klan members, left and went to Indian
01:36:12territory.
01:36:13This man with his brothers, his cousin, his father-in-law, his father, they own 300 acres
01:36:19of land, a hotel, a bank, a theater, a chain of department stores, including a store that
01:36:24was in Tulsa in 1921 and burned down in the Tulsa Race Massacre.
01:36:28And this family is my family.
01:36:33That's my family.
01:36:35Now you understand why I talk about you.
01:36:37Oh my goodness.
01:36:40Wow, prominent people.
01:36:42See, you can see, I know to a certain extent how you feel when you have this history.
01:36:47And it's like, wow, okay, so what do I do with this?
01:36:51We as black people think of this history in a certain way.
01:36:54You're right.
01:36:55But when you connect those dots, look at the people watching the film.
01:36:59They're not all black.
01:37:00If this were to happen in Mobile, would they embrace it like people here in Washington
01:37:05and Montgomery?
01:37:06Montgomery is just a name.
01:37:07But, Joycelyn, now I know Mobile has its own unique flavor.
01:37:11But one thing's for sure, people were like, no one wants to hear this history.
01:37:14And look at all these people who are here.
01:37:16So it can happen.
01:37:17Yes.
01:37:18Okay, all right.
01:37:19So you got a lot of work to do when you get home.
01:37:21Yeah.
01:37:22But you can do it.
01:37:26It's supposed to be a space where there's a lot you take in.
01:37:29And so it allows you to come in and sit down and just kind of be with your thoughts, right,
01:37:36and reflect on the history.
01:37:38When you go home, you think about, for you, what you would like to see.
01:37:42How we tell the story.
01:37:44What are the things that you know your family members did?
01:38:08I hope that it can be appreciated like this.
01:38:22People will come to visit.
01:38:26I mean, could you imagine like a 200-foot tall statue of some figure or object?
01:38:37It can happen.
01:38:39It can happen.
01:38:41We have to think big.
01:38:43We have to think big.
01:38:56On behalf of the state of Alabama, the Mobile County Commission, and the city of Mobile,
01:39:02I would like to welcome you to the groundbreaking ceremony in Africatown for the new Heritage House.
01:39:10Breathe in.
01:39:11Breathe out.
01:39:12One more time.
01:39:13Breathe in.
01:39:14Breathe out.
01:39:15And so we will do that for a while.
01:39:19So you get used to breathing underwater.
01:39:26It's going to change this place.
01:39:28You know, Charles has an idea to put two 20-foot high African masks up by the lead chimney,
01:39:32one facing that way and one facing this way.
01:39:35So kind of like the St. Louis Arch, you have no—there's no doubt where you are when you see those masks.
01:39:45I just never knew that my life would be this exciting now.
01:39:49Because it's exciting.
01:39:51I don't know what's going to happen next.
01:39:53I was supposed to know what's going to happen next, but I can't wait to find out what happens next.
01:40:04Are you afraid to breathe?
01:40:06No, no, it's very easy.
01:40:08Do you feel like you're going to have a panic attack?
01:40:11Once you get in the water, everything becomes light.
01:40:14You don't have no wind on you at all.
01:40:16You don't?
01:40:17Yeah, you become neutrally buoyant, so that means everything is equal.
01:40:21It's like floating.
01:40:23It's like floating.
01:40:30I tell my little girls what Kudjo stood for.
01:40:37Yeah, baby.
01:40:39And that was the name of the ship, remember?
01:40:43That's painted on the wall.
01:40:46They like to hear how Kudjo played with his granddaughters.
01:40:49They like to hear the stories about how every day when Kudjo woke up, he had a porch full of kids
01:40:54that was just waiting to see him come out the door.
01:41:15My only fear is for my people's story not to be told.
01:41:19I love you.
01:41:49I love you.
01:42:20That's the Apple Fountain Bridge.
01:42:22That's what it looks like right now.
01:42:24This is the area underneath that bridge.
01:42:26This is an illustration of the things that could be done.
01:42:30That could be done.
01:42:31Those are proposed monuments.
01:42:33Amen.
01:42:46This cane, a lot of people say spirits travel through wood
01:42:51and different things that your family members left you
01:42:54to remind you of what they've been teaching you, you wouldn't forget.
01:43:03I love you.
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