We are in another cycle where racists are trying to suppress African American history. It’s very important that Black folks do their genealogy and understand their family lines. Although we mentioned genealogy in a previous show, we haven’t talked about it in depth.. By chance, we met the director of a film called DESCENDANT which is about the community of Africatown and the historical attempts to locate the Clotilda, the last slave ship to arrive in the US long after importation of Africans was abolished. We are delighted then, to present this episode, Recovering Our History from Deep Waters, featuring Kamau Sadiki, Kamau was part of the team that finally recovered the Clotilda, and he is heavily featured in the film.
NABS and DWP
Kamau is an engineer by training. But he was also interested in the wrecked slave ship, the Henrietta Marie. A chance meeting with Albert José Jones changed his life and led him to the National Association of Black Scuba Divers (NAMS) and eventually to Diving With A Purpose, divers who assist with the identification, surveying and recovering of not only lost ships but lost aircraft (Tuskegee Airman wreck) as well. He and the other divers are actually underwater archeologists!
For Kamau recovering the wrecked ships is a spiritual mission. Our ancestors stories are entangled in these remains and he sees his task as helping to bring their stories forward for all of us to hear today. Also, he emphasized that we should stop using the language of the enslavers to tell our stories. He refers to the transoceanic era of enslavement rather than the Middle Passage. And he uses the term “Maafa” to describe the horrific tragedy that befell millions of enslaved Africans kidnapped from their homes and forcibly relocated to throughout the US, the Caribbean, Brazil, and other places.
Africatown and the Clotilda
The story of the Clotilda is a fascinating one. It also shows the lengths white men went to to violate the law in order to keep enslaving African people for their own economic profit. When the ship arrived near Mobile AL, they offloaded the kidnapped Africans and sunk the ship to cover up their criminal activity. The incident occurred in 1860 which meant when the Civil War ended and the kidnapped Africans were freed, they still remembered who they were and where they came from. Some of the survivors formed Africatown and their descendants still live there today.
Books recommended for further reading
Kamau has an encyclopedic knowledge about recovering our ancestors stories and experiences from the depths of the water. For anyone interested, he recommended: UNDERCURRENTS OF POWER by Kevin Dawson; and SPIRIT DIVE: An African American’s Journey to Uncover a Sunken Slave Ship’s Past, by Michael Cottman Kamau is also part of the Slave Wreck Project (SWP) at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. The New Yorker Magazine published an article about the SWP entitled, Dredging Up The Ghostly Secrets of Slave Ships . In addition, he recommended a film called “The Black Grandfather of Scuba Diving.”
There’s so much to learn in this episode. Please enjoy: Recovering Our History from Deep Waters.
6/28/25