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He sent his student back south to interview people of African descent.
They are most reluctant at times to reveal that which the soul lives by.
And the Negro, in spite of his open-faced laughter, his seeming acquiescence, is particularly evasive … Barracoonis testament to her patient fieldwork.
(Indeed, no one was ever punished.)
When Hurston tried to getBarracoonpublished in 1931, she couldnt find a taker.
This is, make no mistake, a harrowing read.
Weve got an open bigot in the White House, Boyd says.
Were much more engaged with racial issues, with the resistance movement.
A book likeBarracoonsays, Yeah, black lives matter.
Its beyond me.)
His head was bowed for a time.
Then he lifted his wet face: Thankee Jesus!
Somebody come ast about Cudjo!
Published by Amistad Press.
Copyright 2018 by the Zora Neale Hurston Trust.
IN AFRICA
My father he nameO-lo-loo-ay.
He not a rich man.
He have three wives.
My mama she name Ny-fond-lo-loo.
She de second wife.
My mama have one son befo me so I her second child.
She have four mo chillun after me, but dat ain all de chillun my father got.
He got nine by de first wife and three by de third wife.
In de compound I play games wid all de chillun.
We wrassle wid one nother.
We see which one kin run de fastest.
One day de chief send word to de compound.
He want see all de boys dat done see fourteen rainy seasons.
Dat makee me very happy because I think he goin send me to de army.
But in de Affica soil dey teachee de boys long time befo dey go in de army.
First de fathers (elders) takee de boys on journey to hunt.
Dey got to learn de step on de ground (tracks).
De fathers teachee us to know a place for de house (camp site).
We shoot de arrows from de bow.
We kill de beastes and fetchee dem home wid us.
I so glad I goin be a man and fight in de army lak my big brothers.
Every year dey teachee us mo war.
But de king, Akiaon, say he doan go make no war.
He make us strong so nobody doan make war on us.
Four, five rainy seasons it keep on lak dat, den I grow tall and big.
I kin run in de bush all day and not be tired.
CAPTURE
De King of Dahomey,you know, he got very rich ketchin slaves.
He keep his army all de time making raids to grabee people to sell.
He tellee dem de secret of de gates.
Derefore, dey come make war, but we doan know dey come fight us.
Dey march all night long and we in de bed sleep.
It bout daybreak when de people of Dahomey breakee de Great Gate.
I not woke yet.
I hear de yell from de soldiers while dey choppee de gate.
Derefore I jump out de bed and lookee.
I see de great many soldiers wid French gun in de hand and de big knife.
Oh Lor, Lor!
I see de people gittee kill so fast!
Everybody dey run to de gates so dey kin hide deyself in de bush, you unnerstand me.
I runnee fast to de gate but some de men from Dahomey dey dere too.
I runnee to de nexy gate but dey dere too.
Dey surround de whole town.
One gate lookee lak nobody dere so I make haste and runnee towards de bush.
But soon as I out de gate dey grabee me, and tie de wrist.
Dey take him in de bush where de king of Dahomey wait wid some chiefs.
When he see our king, he say to his soldiers, Bring me de word-changer (interpreter).
Akiaon say to de Dahomey king, Why dont you fight lak men?
Why you doan come in de daytime so dat we could meet face to face?
Akiaon say, I ain goin to Dahomey.
I born a king in Takkoi where my father and his fathers rule.
I not be no slave.
De king of Dahomey askee him, You not goin to Dahomey?
He tell him, No, I ain goin.
De king of Dahomey doan say no mo.
When I think bout dat time I try not to cry no mo.
My eyes dey stop cryin but de tears runnee down inside me all de time.
I no see none my family.
All day dey make us walk.
De sun so hot.
De king of Dahomey, he ride in de hammock and de chiefs wid him dey got hammock too.
Dey tie us in de line so nobody run off.
In dey hand dey got de head of de people dey kill in Takkoi.
Some got two, three head.
Oh Lor I wish dey bury dem!
I doan lak see my people head in de soldier hands; and de smell makee me so sick.
But Cudjo see de white men, and dass somethin he ain never seen befo.
De barracoon we in ain de only slave pen at the place.
Sometime we holler back and forth and find out where each other come from.
But each nation in a barracoon by itself.
When we dere three weeks a white man come in de barracoon wid two men of de Dahomey.
Dey make everybody stand in a ring.
Den de white man lookee and lookee.
He lookee hard at de skin and de feet and de legs and in de mouth.
Every time he choose a man he choose a woman.
He take sixty-five men wid a woman for each man.
Den de white man go way.
We eatee de big feast.
We all lonesome for our home.
We doan know whut goin become of us.
MIDDLE PASSAGE
Dey come and tie usin de line and lead us round de big white house.
Den we see so many ships.
We see de white man dat buy us.
I in de last boat go out.
Dey almost leavee me on de shore.
When I see my friend Keebie in de boat I want go wid him.
So I holler and dey turn round and takee me.
When we ready to leave and go in de ship, dey snatch our country cloth off us.
Dey say, You get plenty clothes where you goin.
Oh Lor, I so shame!
We come in de Merica soil naked and de people say we naked savage.
Soon we git in de ship dey make us lay down in de dark.
Dey doan give us much to eat.
Dey give us a little bit of water twice a day.
De water taste sour.
(Vinegar was usually added to the water to prevent scurvy.)
On de thirteenth day dey fetchee us on de deck.
We lookee and lookee and lookee and we doan see nothin but water.
Where we come from, we doan know.
Where we goin, we doan know.
Cudjo suffer so in dat ship.
I so skeered on de sea!
De water, you unnerstand me, it makee so much noise!
It growl lak de thousand beastes in de bush.
De wind got so much voice on de water.
Sometime de ship way up in de sky.
Sometimes it way down in de bottom of de sea.
Dey say de sea was calm.
Cudjo doan know, seem lak it move all de time.
SLAVERY
Capn Tim Meaher,he tookee thirty-two of us.
Capn Burns Meaher he tookee ten couples.
Some dey sell up de river.
Capn Bill Foster he tookee de eight couples and Capn Jim Meaher he gittee de rest.
We very sorry to be parted from one nother.
We seventy days cross de water from de Affica soil, and now dey part us from one nother.
Our grief so heavy look lak we cain stand it.
I think maybe I die in my sleep when I dream about my mama.
Capn Jim he tookee me.
Dey doan put us to work right away cause we doan unnerstand what dey say and how dey do.
But de others show us how dey raisee de crop in de field.
Capn Tim and Capn Burns Meaher workee dey folks hard.
Dey got overseer wid de whip.
He doan never try whip Affican women no mo.
We doan know why we be bring way from our country to work lak dis.
Everybody lookee at us strange.
We want to talk wid de udder colored folkses but dey doan know whut we say.
Some makee de fun at us.
De whip stickee in his belt.
He holler, Hurry up, dere, you!
Cant you runnee no faster dan dat?
He cutee you wid de whip if you ain run fast nough to just him.
If you doan git a big load, he hitee you too.
De war commences but we doan know bout it when it start.
Den somebody tell me de folkses way up in de North make de war so dey free us.
I lak hear dat.
So we think maybe dey fight bout something else.
Know how we gittee free?
Cudjo tellee you dat.
De boat I on, it in de Mobile.
It April 12, 1865.
De Yankee soldiers dey come down to de boat and eatee de mulberries off de trees.
Den dey see us and say, Yall cant stay dere no mo.
You free, you doan blong to nobody no mo.
We astee de soldiers where we goin?
Dey say dey doan know.
Dey told us to go where we feel lak goin, we ain no mo slave.
We glad we free, but we cain stay wid de folks what own us no mo.
Where we goin live, we doan know.
We want buildee de houses for ourselves, but we ain got no lan.
We meet together and we talk.
We say we from cross de water so we go back where we come from.
We think Capn Meaher dey ought take us back home.
But we think we save money and buy de ticket ourselves.
So we tell de women, Now we all want go back home.
Derefo we got to work hard and save de money.
You see fine clothes, you must not wish for dem.
But it too much money we need.
So we think we stay here.
We see we ain got no ruler, no chief lak in de Affica.
Dey tell us nobody doan have no king in Merica soil.
Derefo we make Gumpa de head.
He a nobleman back in Dahomey.
He didnt do nothin ginst us.
We join ourselves together to live.
One day not long after dey tell me to speakee, Cudjo cuttin timber for de mill.
Capn Tim Meaher come sit on de tree Cudjo just choppee down.
I say, now is de time for Cudjo to speakee for his people.
He set on de tree choppin splinters wid his pocket knife.
I tell him, Capn Tim, I grieve for my home.
He say, But you got a good home, Cudjo.
Cudjo say, Capn Tim, how big is de Mobile?
I doan know, Cudjo, Ive never been to de four corners.
Capn Tim, you brought us from our country where we had lan.
You made us slave.
Now dey make us free but we ain got no country and we ain got no lan!
Why doan you give us piece dis land so we kin buildee ourself a home?
I tookee good keer my slaves and derefo I doan owe dem nothin.
Cudjo tell de people whut Capn Tim say.
Dey say, Well, we buy ourself a piece of lan.
We workee hard and save, and eat molassee and bread and buy de land from de Meaher.
Dey doan take off one five cent from de price for us.
We make Gumpa de head and Jaybee and Keebie de judges.
Den we make laws how to behave ourselves.
We doan want nobody to steal, neither gittee drunk, neither hurtee nobody.
We call our village Affican Town.
FAMILY
Abila, she a woman,you unnerstand me, from cross de water.
Dey call her Seely in Americky soil.
I want dis woman to be my wife.
Whut did Cudjo say so dat dis woman know he want to marry her?
I tellee you de truth how it was.
One day Cudjo say to her, I likee you to be my wife.
I ain got nobody.
She say, Whut you want wid me?
I wantee marry you.
You think if I be yo wife you kin take keer me?
Yeah, I kin work for you.
I ain goin to beat you.
I didnt say no more.
We got married one month after we gree tween ourselves.We didnt had no wedding.
Whether it was March or Christmas day, I doan remember now.
We live together and we do all we kin to make happiness.
After me and my wife gree tween ourselves, we seekee religion and got converted.
Den in de church dey tell us we got to marry by license.
In de Afficky soil, we ain got no license.
She a good woman and I love her all de time.
Me and my wife we have de six chillun together.
Five boys and one girl.
We been married ten months when we have our first baby.
We call him Yah-Jimmy, just de same lak we was in de Afficky soil.
For Americky we call him Aleck.
So you unnerstand me, we give our chillun two names.
All de time de chillun growin de American folks dey picks at dem.
Dey callee my chillun ignant savage and make out dey kin to monkey.
Derefo, my boys dey fight.
Dey got to fight all de time.
Me and dey mama doan lak to hear our chillun call savage.
It hurtee dey feelings.
We fraid they goin kill somebody.
Cudjo meetee de people at de gate and tellee dem, You see de rattlesnake in de woods?
Dey say, Yeah.
I say, If you bother wid him, he bite you.
Same way wid my boys, you unnerstand me.
But dey keep on.
We Afficans try raise our chillun right.
We build one for ourself den astee de county to send us de teacher.
I love my chillun so much!
I try so hard be good to our chillun.
Yo, man, the guy asked.
Where can I buy that shirt?
I had it made, Lumbers said.
One is my momMary and one is my aunt.
Oh, man, I was ready to give up $30 for one of those.
Cudjo practically raised my dad, Lewis tells me after his wife, Lana, invites me in.
Lewis cleans floors for a living and preaches at a nearby church.
Mary and her twin were in their early teens when Cudjo died, in 1935.
Because there was no indoor plumbing, they bathed in claw-foot tubs and heated water on the stove.
The middle school is in danger of shuttering owing to low enrollment.
Lumbers is returning to his birthplace after he retires next year.
For all my kidshe has six and my kids kids there are 21 and anybody that needs help.
Well do it just like we used to.
