Descendientes

If a person knew very little about slavery and the slave trade, this documentary would be a great shock and revelation. Since my earliest student days, however, the slave trade between Africa and the "Americas" stood high profile with me. It still does.

By focusing on the voyage of the "Clotilda", it being the last or one of the last slavers, and the descendance of its human cargo, it manages to cover the utterly dismal topic sufficiently. Grinning white people in suits referring to the reconstructive drawing of the "Clotilda" as "Wonderful" have no place in this story. This story belongs to African Americans, and how they were so late in history, abducted to the Americas by greedy white men.

These same men, and they were men, who now hold all the money and land from this outrage now are riding a gravy train of financial advantage. Overall, the abomination against humanity that was the entirety of the Africa-Americas slave business will remain a bleeding sore on our society until reparations are made. Now that would be a wonderful picture.

(Irving Warner)

The polluting factories and the highway that destroyed the Downtown area of Africatown are just other facts that help validate what the descendants are saying. Historians use oral histories as part of their research - this is a common practice. A lot of people don't want you to see this documentary. They are afraid of how it will make them look. They are afraid that it will explain someone's situation. This is one of the reasons I watched the documentary. It explains so much about the Bible Belt south. If you care about American history at all, you will find this documentary rewarding. Watch it and decide for yourself.

This is truly, deeply, sincerely an important piece of US History and an amazing story. The Clotilda and Africatown are remarkable and should be revered. The Clotilda is an extremely rare find that should be a National Monument. But of course - this represents a lot more than just the story of a ship!

I live in Mobile. I know these places! There have been a couple of documentaries now, about the Clotilda - and I have been excited to see them both; however, unfortunately - I don't think anyone has quite hit the mark yet when it comes to telling and presenting this story with the impact it deserves, but this wasn't bad - I enjoyed it - the story and the people are incredible - but I'm still waiting for a Clotilda show that tells it all with the passion and excitement to do this justice.

Interviewing a bunch of relatives of slaves who just want reparation's for something their great great great grandparents went through. People they never met nor spoke to. Sad that the memory of the people who went through slavery has been reduced to this. The slaves remained strong through humility. They had Christ in their lives and God delivered a people who put their faith in Him. To try to capitalize on a situation like this by making a documentary based on the telephone game mentality of people who honestly are so far removed from the situation any testimony given will be self centric in nature is appalling. Should you ask Caucasian Americans with Italian decent about the roman empire? I think not.

Slavery was one of the most important, and most disgraceful, parts of US history. Most of the focus on it emphasizes the plantations, the whipping of the enslaved African-Americans, and the Underground Railroad. A lesser known part is the slave trade itself. Outlawed in 1808, it continued in secret. The last ship to bring kidnapped Africans to the United States was the Clotilda, which docked in Mobile, Alabama, before getting sunk to hide its violation of the ban on slave-trading.

Margaret Brown's "Descendant" focuses on this, as well as the descendants of the enslaved people on the Alabama coast. It's a fascinating look at the aftermath of slavery, and how the descendants of the slaveowners are the biggest landholders in the area. Not to mention the chemical refineries dumping all sorts of toxins.

This is not a documentary that you'll forget anytime soon. I recommend it.