By Maureen Warner-Lewis (NHC Fellow, 1993–94) Central Africa in the Caribbean is the product of more than three decades of research. Maureen Warner-Lewis’s pioneering study analyses some of the main lineaments of the Central African cultural legacy in the Caribbean, with fascinating transatlantic comparative data. She identifies Central African cultural forms in areas settled by the … Continued
By Rebecca J. Scott (NHC Fellow, 2010–11) Around 1785, a woman was taken from her home in Senegambia and sent to Saint-Domingue in the Caribbean. Those who enslaved her there named her Rosalie. Her later efforts to escape slavery were the beginning of a family’s quest, across five generations and three continents, for lives of … Continued
By Aline Helg (NHC Fellow, 2000–01) After Brazil and the United States, Colombia has the third-largest population of African-descended peoples in the Western hemisphere. Yet the country is commonly viewed as a nation of Andeans, whites, and mestizos (peoples of mixed Spanish and indigenous Indian ancestry). Aline Helg examines the historical roots of Colombia's treatment and neglect … Continued
By Jon F. Sensbach (NHC Fellow, 2001–02) Rebecca’s Revival is the remarkable story of a Caribbean woman—a slave turned evangelist—who helped inspire the rise of black Christianity in the Atlantic world. All but unknown today, Rebecca Protten left an enduring influence on African-American religion and society. Born in 1718, Protten had a childhood conversion experience, gained … Continued
The image of this colorful sign is obviously meant to be “fun” and perhaps even funny. When I took this picture while traveling with fellow teachers and educators in Barbados, it honestly was because I thought the sign was kind of cute. But later on that day, when I thought about the sign and about … Continued