The Hidden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts
208 pages
English language
Published Nov. 15, 2021
Women warriors planned and led revolts on slave ships during the Middle Passage. They fought their enslavers throughout the Americas. And then they were erased from history.
Wake tells the “riveting” (Angela Y. Davis) story of Dr. Rebecca Hall, a historian, granddaughter of slaves, and a woman haunted by the legacy of slavery. The accepted history of slave revolts has always told her that enslaved women took a back seat. But Rebecca decides to look deeper, and her journey takes her through old court records, slave ship captain’s logs, crumbling correspondence, and even the forensic evidence from the bones of enslaved women from the “negro burying ground” uncovered in Manhattan. She finds women warriors everywhere.
Using a “remarkable blend of passion and fact, action and reflection” (NPR), Rebecca constructs the likely pasts of Adono and Alele, women rebels who fought for freedom during the Middle Passage, as well as the …
Women warriors planned and led revolts on slave ships during the Middle Passage. They fought their enslavers throughout the Americas. And then they were erased from history.
Wake tells the “riveting” (Angela Y. Davis) story of Dr. Rebecca Hall, a historian, granddaughter of slaves, and a woman haunted by the legacy of slavery. The accepted history of slave revolts has always told her that enslaved women took a back seat. But Rebecca decides to look deeper, and her journey takes her through old court records, slave ship captain’s logs, crumbling correspondence, and even the forensic evidence from the bones of enslaved women from the “negro burying ground” uncovered in Manhattan. She finds women warriors everywhere.
Using a “remarkable blend of passion and fact, action and reflection” (NPR), Rebecca constructs the likely pasts of Adono and Alele, women rebels who fought for freedom during the Middle Passage, as well as the stories of women who led slave revolts in Colonial New York. We also follow Rebecca’s own story as the legacy of slavery shapes her life, both during her time as a successful attorney and later as a historian seeking the past that haunts her.
Illustrated beautifully in black and white, Wake will take its place alongside classics of the graphic novel genre, like Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis and Art Spiegelman’s Maus. This story of a personal and national legacy is a powerful reminder that while the past is gone, we still live in its wake.
A very personal exploration of a facet of history that still has so many unheard stories. The portion set in England pulls no punches, in a way that makes me want to force all my friends there to read this. I learned so much, and felt so much: it does its job and more.
Really wish I could rave about this. The memoir parts were phenomenal: effective, deeply moving. They conveyed Hall’s disappointment over so many lost threads; frustration over the many closed doors she encountered and the ways she’s been unjustly treated; her heartbreak over all the lives destroyed and reduced to mere entries on a ledger. Her use of excerpts from ledgers and logs is brilliant: their coldness reached deep into my heart, infusing me with despair over a species — my species — that could so easily perpetrate such abominations on fellow humans. The palimpsest-style illustrations in these sections were beautifully done.
The fictionalized parts were... pretty good. (Not the dialog, but there was little enough of that). The stories added a personal touch, helping me imagine that past and the individual souls who lived and fought and suffered.
The jumping between the two — that did not work for me …
Really wish I could rave about this. The memoir parts were phenomenal: effective, deeply moving. They conveyed Hall’s disappointment over so many lost threads; frustration over the many closed doors she encountered and the ways she’s been unjustly treated; her heartbreak over all the lives destroyed and reduced to mere entries on a ledger. Her use of excerpts from ledgers and logs is brilliant: their coldness reached deep into my heart, infusing me with despair over a species — my species — that could so easily perpetrate such abominations on fellow humans. The palimpsest-style illustrations in these sections were beautifully done.
The fictionalized parts were... pretty good. (Not the dialog, but there was little enough of that). The stories added a personal touch, helping me imagine that past and the individual souls who lived and fought and suffered.
The jumping between the two — that did not work for me at all. It took me a while to realize what was happening, and I tried my best to accept it and love it, but couldn’t. Maybe there’s a way to read it without feeling jolted out; some mindset; maybe on second reading I’ll be more prepared and able to understand. Right now, first reading, right on the heels of the exquisite [b:Caste|51152447|Caste The Origins of Our Discontents|Isabel Wilkerson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1597267568l/51152447.SY75.jpg|75937597], I just can’t justify the five stars I so badly wanted to give.
(That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t read this. YOU SHOULD. It’s informative, haunting, beautiful.)
