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Open Book / Open Mind; Ben Raines, "The Last Slave Ship"

An award-winning journalist, filmmaker and charter captain discusses his discovery of the wreck of the Clotilda with a Washington University professor of history and African American studies.

Don't miss another great author conversation! Audience Q&A to follow. This program is sponsored by the Montclair Public Library Foundation, The Investors Foundation, and watchung booksellers; to support Open Book / Open Mind and other library programs, click here to donate.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ben Raines is an award-winning environmental journalist, filmmaker, and charter captain who discovered the remains of the Clotilda. He is also the author of "Saving America's Amazon: The Threat to Our Nation's Most Biodiverse River System." He lives in Fairhope, Alabama.

ABOUT THE BOOK

An award-winning journalist, filmmaker and charter captain discusses his discovery of the remains of the Clotilda, which was launched 50 years after the transAtlantic slave trade became illegal, and the fate of Africatown, which was founded by its survivors. 

“The fast-paced narrative begins with the voyage and follows the Clotilda’s survivors beyond the Civil War….Raines vividly conjures the watery landscape into which the Africans stepped… Knowledge of these waterways also led Raines to locate the Clotilda in a place previous searchers had ignored.” — The New York Times

ABOUT THE CONVERSATION PARTNER

Sowande' Mustakeem is an associate professor of history and African American studies at Washington University in St. Louis and the author of "Slavery at Sea: Terror, Sex, and Sickness in the Middle Passage." Her most recent essay appeared in the online publication Vox, “Six Myths About the History of Black People in America”. She has been featured on BBC radio, and Henry Louis Gates’ PBS documentary series “Many Rivers to Cross.” 

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