In Lose Your Mother; Saidiya Hartman journeys along a slave route in Ghana; following the trail of captives from the hinterland to the Atlantic coast. She retraces the history of the Atlantic slave trade from the fifteenth to the twentieth century and reckons with the blank slate of her own genealogy. There were no survivors of Hartman's lineage; nor far-flung relatives in Ghana of whom she had come in search. She traveled to Ghana in search of strangers. The most universal definition of the slave is a stranger--torn from kin and country. To lose your mother is to suffer the loss of kin; to forget your past; and to inhabit the world as a stranger. As both the offspring of slaves and an American in Africa; Hartman; too; was a stranger. Her reflections on history and memory unfold as an intimate encounter with places--a holding cell; a slave market; a walled town builtto repel slave raiders--and with people: an Akan prince who granted the Portuguese permission to build the first permanent trading fort in West Africa; an adolescent boy who was kidnapped while playing; a fourteen-year-old girl who was murdered aboard a slave ship. Eloquent; thoughtful; and deeply affecting; Lose Your Mother is a powerful meditation on history; memory; and the Atlantic slave trade.
#1307787 in Books Carmen Aguirre 2014-03-25 2014-03-25Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.00 x .84 x 5.15l; .60 #File Name: 0345813820304 pagesSomething Fierce Memoirs of a Revolutionary Daughter
Review
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. The Chilean Resistance from the InsideBy CandonThis first-hand story of growing up in the Chilean resistance after the Pinochet coup is riveting and revealing. It is utterly unlike anything I have read before; political without becoming polemical; deeply personal but movingly human. There is no room here for the cynicism or distancing prevalent in too many autobiographies and first-person accounts of events. This is raw; moving and almost excruciatingly honest. No wonder it won last year's Canada Reads award. Read this not only to better understand the savagery of the CIA-backed Pinochet coup and its aftermath;but to also understand the motivation; dedication and sacrifices of those committed to combating tyranny not only in Chile; but in nations around the globe.2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. FacinatingBy Brigette FurlongerAlthough this book was a facinating read; I was disappointed by the end. Throughout the book; Carmen discribes her relationship with family. Unfortunately; she doesn't continue with her relationship with her parents. I felt like I was hanging; wondering what had happened between Carmen and her mother in particular. I would have liked a final chapter describing her closest relationships and what happened to those people. There were too many unanswered questions for me.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Well written engaging memoirBy ShannonThis read held me captivated from start to finish. Both entertaining and educating me. I highly recommend this book for all audiences
