The Maroons of Prospect Bluff and Their Quest for Freedom in the Atlantic

  

Available from University Press of Florida

Nathaniel Millet (Associate Professor of History, Saint Louis University) is a contributing author to Africa in Florida, see Chapter 2: An Overview of Florida's Black Past. His book--The Maroons of Prospect Bluff and Their Quest for Freedom in the Atlantic World-- was recently published and has already won two awards (Florida Book Award for Florida Nonfiction, Silver - 2013 and Rembert Patrick Book Award - 2014).  

Synopsis from the UPF website:

During the War of 1812, Edward Nicolls of the Royal Marines armed ex-slaves, Red Sticks, and Seminoles to fight alongside the British from a fort erected at Prospect Bluff in the Florida panhandle. This so-called Negro Fort became the largest maroon community ever to emerge in North America. Fervently opposed to slavery, Nicolls galvanized the Prospect Bluff allies with his radical anti-slavery ideology and the promise of freedom, asserting their rights and privileges equal to those of any British subject.

At war’s end, Nicolls remained at Prospect Bluff, petitioning American officials to respect the territorial sovereignty of his Indian allies. When diplomacy failed, Nicolls left the fort to his black army of radicalized British subjects and encouraged it to defend the territory against all threats. What developed was a well-organized community that regarded itself as an independent British polity.

Nathaniel Millett examines how the Prospect Bluff maroons constructed their freedom, shedding light on the extent and limits of their physical and intellectual fight to claim their rights. He compares their settlement extensively with maroon communities across the Americas, emphasizing the rare opportunity offered by Prospect Bluff to examine black consciousness during the era of slavery.
 

Africa in Florida--ON VACATION

Lion Country Safari

Summer is a time to play... 
and this blogger is on vacation revisiting some research from Chapter 23 "Florida Tourism Gone Wild" in which I make the important observation that amusement parks weren't designed to be analyzed--they were designed to be enjoyed. My visit to Lion Country Safari African Adventure was a totally different experience with the kids! Yes, I barely noticed how Africa was represented (if you want an analysis of this African-themed amusement park read Chapter 23). 

If you have read the introduction to Africa in Florida, you know that it's all about the maps!

Someone needs to write more about the role of photography in these parks!

Kongo Across the Waters

Robin Poynor and I embarked upon the Africa in Florida project several years ago (much longer than either of us would like to admit). Our conversations and research for Africa in Florida inspired Robin to develop an exhibition (and book) that continued to explore the 500 years of African presence in North America through an in-depth look at Kongo culture, which originated in central Africa.  Watch a video of Robin discussing how Africa in Florida led to this other exciting project.

Kongo Across the Waters is a collaboration between the Harn Museum of Art at the University of Florida and the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Tervuren, Belgium. The traveling exhibition originated at the Harn Museum and recently opened at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta, Georgia. It will travel to additional venues.

This project recognizes the longevity of the Kongo peoples and their well-documented history. While popular myths about the wildness of Africa were abundant in past centuries, leaving a residue even today, European powers recognized and admired the Kongo as a national entity.  However, Kongos were also among the earliest enslaved Africans to be brought to the Americas.  Their impact is apparent in archaeological excavations and African-American folk culture.  Conversations about the diaspora are further enriched within the exhibition due to the inclusion of several contemporary artists who mine Kongo history, religion, philosophy and iconography in their own art.

The Kongo Across the Waters website is full of great resources and the book is available from University Press of Florida.

Updates from Mexico

Sagrario Cruz-Carretero (Institute of Anthropology at University of Veracruz, Mexico) presents on Africa in Florida: Five Hundred Years of African Presence in the Sunshine State at Feria Internacional del Libro Universitario (FILU), Xalapa. 

The panel discussed the merits of the book, Africa in Florida, and what it means for Mexicans who are coming to terms with their own complex heritage, which includes historical linkages between Mexico and Florida.  Cruz-Carretero contributed Chapter 8, "From Florida to Veracruz: The Foundation of San Carlos Chachalacas" in which she writes about a community of free Blacks in the 18th century who migrated from northern Florida to Veracruz, Mexico. Her chapter demonstrates the complexity of racial categories at that time, which were further complicated by the various policies of several different governments.

A presentation about Africa in Florida in Feria Intercional del Libro Universitario (FILU), Xalapa; organized by of the University of Veracruz, Mexico.May 12, 2014.  

From right to left: Dr. Álvaro Alcántara (Historian specializing in people of African descent in Mexico and Latin America); Dr. Carlos Casas Mendoza (Anthropologist specializing in festivities and identities between ethnic groups in Mexico and Brazil), Sagrario Cruz Carretero (Anthropologist and historian specializing in people of African decent in Mexico) ; and Dr. Rafael Figueroa (Historian specializing in the popular music of Mexico and the Caribbean).

 See also:
http://www.uv.mx/noticias/2014/05/14/vivimos-en-una-sociedad-pigmentocratica-sagrario-cruz/

http://formato7.com/2014/05/13/se-realizo-un-analisis-de-los-grupos-afroamericanos-cruz/