Africatown: America’s Last Slave Ship and the Community It Created

This 30-minute narrative traces the arc of Africatown, the community founded by survivors of the Clotilda, the last slave ship known to arrive in the United States. It begins with the raid in West Africa, crosses the ocean into the dark hold of a secret schooner, and follows the shipmates as they piece together a home in Alabama after emancipation. We then move through the political whiplash of Reconstruction, the terror of Jim Crow, and the mid-century surge of industry that surrounded—and sickened—the neighborhood. Along the way we meet unforgettable people: Cudjo Lewis, who told his story to Zora Neale Hurston; Henry Williams, the welder who would not let the memory die; and modern-day organizers like Joe Womack and Anderson Flen, who fight for environmental justice and a future worthy of the past. The story closes with the discovery of the Clotilda’s wreck and the question that now hangs over Mobile: Will the city finally honor the community that kept its truth alive?

• Listeners interested in American history that connects slavery to today’s communities
• People who care about environmental justice, public health, and preservation
• Leaders and organizers looking for real-world lessons in coalition building

Nick Tabor is a journalist whose work has appeared in New York magazine, The New Republic, The Washington Post, Oxford American, and elsewhere. He spent years reporting in Mobile and Africatown, following residents, descendants, and archaeologists to tell a continuous story from the Clotilda’s voyage to the present.