What was the cultural legacy of enslaved Africans in the American South, and how has that legacy been handed through generations?

For author Deirdre Foreman, this question is a very personal one: in this book, she explores the cultural legacy of enslaved Africans in the American South through an ethno-autobiographical reflection on her own African-American identity and family heritage. Through storytelling and personal narratives, the author describes her family’s cultural practices and how they are directly rooted in those of the enslaved Africans on the southern plantations. Known as “cultural survivors,” enslaved Africans established cultural customs and norms out of resistance to the control of white slaveholders to maintain their independence and pride.

Ideal reading for students of Black studies, African American studies, Africana studies, and related courses, this autoethnography humanizes and personalizes concepts that are crucial to the understanding of Black culture and Black history.

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Dedication
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Notes on language and content
• Introduction
• 1 Ghana
  • Learning objectives
• 2 The “Big House”
  • Learning objectives
  • Childhood memory
• 3 Tobacco field
  • Learning objectives
  • Childhood memory
• 4 Farming and gardening
  • Learning objectives
  • Farming practices in the Northern Region of Ghana
    • Question 1
      • Please tell me your knowledge of farming in Ghana.
    • Question 2
      • What types of crops are predominately grown in Ghana?
    • Question 3
      • Please tell me more about the farming practices in Ghana.
    • Question 4
      • How many regions are there in the Northern Region of Ghana? In which region is the shea butter grown?
    • Question 5
      • How else would you describe the farming process in the Northern Region?
    • Question 6
      • What does “bush people” mean? Does it mean that they are uneducated?
    • Question 7
      • Are these people skilled in the types of jobs that are offered in Accra and Kumasi? What are the jobs that they come to do?
  • Childhood memory
    • Buttermilk
  • Sweet potatoes and tomatoes
• 5 Bare feet
  • Learning objectives
  • Childhood memory
• 6 Cornrows
  • Learning objectives
• 7 Linguistic Africanisms
  • Learning objectives
  • Childhood memory
• Conclusion
• Recommended discussion topics
• Appendices
• References
• Recommended further reading
• Index

Deirdre Foreman PhD is Adjunct Professor of Africana Studies and Social Science, and Associate Director of the Educational Opportunity Fund program at Ramapo College of New Jersey. An anti-racist trainer and diversity consultant, Foreman is also a visiting lecturer and speaker at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi, Ghana; past President of Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) Manhattan Branch; and a member of both the Association for the Study of the Worldwide Diaspora (ASWAD) and the Diopian Institute for Scholarly Advancement (DIOP).

On Thursday June 20, 2024, we held a seminar in our Topics in Black Studies series:

The Cultural Legacy of Slavery: A Reflection on African American Identity and Family Heritage

This free seminar was a conversation between author Deirdre Foreman and Chris McAuley, Lived Places Publishing Collection Editor. They explored the cultural legacy of enslaved Africans in the American South through an ethnoautobiographical reflection of Deirdre's own African American identity and family heritage.

>> VIEW SESSION REPLAY