Name: The Black Diaspora
ISBN: 9780374524906

Ronald Segal

Analyzes five centuries of Black life outside Africa, covering religion, politics, language, literature, music, and art

Five Centuries of the Black Experience Outside Africa

The Black Diaspora

Vivian

While reading Homegoing I was curious how many people were sold during the transatlantic slave trade (12.5M embarked, 10.7M survived the voyage). To my surprise that only a small percentage were sold to nowadays US (388K), the vast majority were sold to Caribbean (4.5M+) and Brazil (4.8M+). However when we talk about slavery, it is always US-centric. What happened to all these other people and their descendants? That question led me to this book.

Ronald Segal was a Jewish South African anti-apartheid activist and writer; his passion for equality in South Africa led him to the black diaspora experience. After trying to commision several writers and nobody was willing to touch such an expansive topic, he decided to write it himself. This book is divided into 5 sections: From Africa to Slavery, The Insurgent Spirit, Chains of Emancipation, Travels in the Historic Present, and Selections From An Anatomy of Achievements. 

It's not an easy read, nor very coherent. But writing 500 years of black diaspora experience is an extremely difficult task. This book definitely filled my knowledge gap in the slavery history beyond North America and how colonial legacies continued to impact and influence the cultures, economies and politics of these countries well into present days. I particularly enjoyed the sections on Haiti, Cuba and Brazil - countries I visited in the past but now I'm seeing in a new light.

The Black Diaspora Five Centuries of the Black Experience Outside Africa

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