Read this when
The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano
Kidnapped at eleven. Bought his own freedom. Then wrote the book that helped end the trade. Equiano, 1789.
Who it's for
Equiano tells his own story in his own words, from his Igbo childhood through kidnapping, the Middle Passage, enslavement at sea and in the Americas, to buying his freedom and campaigning for abolition.
Feelings it meets
What it is
Published in London in 1789, this is the autobiography of Olaudah Equiano, also known as Gustavus Vassa. It traces his childhood in Igboland (in present-day Nigeria), his kidnapping as a child, the Middle Passage, and his enslavement in several places. It goes on to his efforts to earn money, his purchase of his own freedom around 1766, and his later work for the abolition movement.
Where to find it
Public domain in the US (1789); free on Project Gutenberg and at UNC's Documenting the American South, with a free LibriVox audiobook. In print (e.g., Penguin Classics, ed. Vincent Carretta) and in li.
Before you start
Heads up: Suicides in the Middle Passage; torture.
Age: Ages 14+
The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color-line,W. E. B. Du Bois, The Souls of Black Folk
