Enslaved Episode 5: Resistance
Find out how enslaved Africans resisted and sought freedom in Africa, in the U.S. and on the high seas
Films on slavery most often focus on enslaved Africans as victims, but they also resisted. This episode investigates resistance to slavery from Ghana to the U.K. to North America, where thousands of "runaways" risked their lives as part of the Underground Railroad.
The Diving with a Purpose divers embark on an unprecedented investigation to positively identify a perfectly preserved wreck that is believed to be the Home, a "Freedom Boat" in the Great Lakes. The Home was a schooner that ferried African Americans to freedom in Canada from Sandusky, Ohio, a hub of abolitionism in the mid-19th century. Working with a local historian, the divers even identify the names of some of the runaways who were saved by the captain of the ship.
At the same time, journalists Simcha Jacobovici and Afua Hirsch investigate the roles that Africans played in resistance both at home in Africa and in the Americas. They uncover the histories of uprisings on the high seas and resistance battles in Ghana. They learn the story of Robert Smalls, who escaped slavery and took others to freedom by stealing a Confederate transport ship during the U.S. Civil War.
Finally, Samuel L. Jackson examines the history of "negro spirituals," and learns how those songs were coded messages of resistance and maps to freedom.
Enslaved contains disturbing depictions of the inhumanity faced by enslaved people from African countries during the Transatlantic slave trade, which may be traumatizing to some viewers. If you need support, there are resources available across the country, you can find links to a number of these resources in this post, curated by the Unison Benevolent Fund: https://www.unisonfund.ca/blog/post/mental-health-resources-black-canadians