About this episode
Just outside of Mobile, Alabama, sits the small community of Africatown, a town established by the last known slaves brought to America, illegally, in 1860. Decades after that last slave ship, The Clotilde , burned in the waters outside Mobile, Africatown residents are pushing back against the forces of industrial destruction and national amnesia. Local struggles over environmental justice, land ownership, and development could determine whether Africatown becomes an historical destination, a living monument to a lingering past — or whether shadows cast by highway overpasses and gasoline tanks will erase our country's hard-learned lessons. Brooke spoke with Deborah G. Plant , editor of a new book by Zora Neale Hurston about a founder of Africatown, Joe Womack , environmental activist and Africatown resident, Vickii Howell , president and CEO of the MOVE Gulf Coast Community Development Corporation , Charles Torrey, research historian for the History Museum of Mobile , and others about the past, present, and future of Africatown, Alabama. Songs: Traditional African Nigerian Music of the Yoruba Tribe Death Have Mercy by Regina Carter Sacred Oracle by John Zorn and Bill Frisell Passing Time by John Renbourn The Thompson Fields by Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today ( https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm ). Follow our show on Instagram , Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org.