A very important book as it tells the story of a man who was part of the last "Black Cargo" (from the title). Cudjoe Kazoola Lewis, born Oluale Kossola, tells the story in his own words of growing up in Africa and what it was like... the raid on his village... coming to America... and living in postbellum America.

You can feel the yearning he has for Africa, a land he was stolen from and never got to return to. The fact that he outlived all his children AND his wife (by 30 years) is devastating. I really hope that his daughter in law, who had twin girls with his oldest son, and his granddaughters brought him joy - they're briefly mentioned in the book and Hurston describes the obvious love/fondness he has for them. I did find something on his Wikipedia (cited from a book about the Clotilda) that he allowed his daughter in law and her second husband to have the land after he passed. 

“Oluale Kossola could never fathom why he was in “de Americky soil.” “Dey bring us ‘way from our soil and workee us hard de five year and six months.” And once free, he says, “we ain’ got no country and we ain’ got no lan’.” And in postbellum America he was subject to the exploitation of his labor and the vagaries of the law, just as he was in antebellum America. He remained confounded by this cruel treatment for the rest of his life. Kossola’s experience was not anomalous. It is representative of the reality of African American people who have been grappling for a sense of sovereignty over their own bodies ever since slavery was institutionalized.” 

 

“In its founding and government, Africatown was similar to other black towns, writes Sylviane Diouf. But it was distinguished by the fact of its ethnicity. Although some African Americans were numbered among them as spouses and founders, Africatown “was not conceived of a settlement for “’blacks,’ but for Africans.” 

Africatown was their statement about who they were, and it was a haven from white supremacy and the ostracism of black Americans. The bonds the Africans created in the barracoons, on the ships, and in servitude were the source of their survival and resilience, and the foundation of their community.”