In this series, students from the Department of Communications’ spring 2023 oral traditions class explore West African cultures and the African American diaspora.

Students draw comparisons between their own cultures and that of the Maroons, formerly enslaved Africans who fled imprisonment and formed close-knit communities throughout the americas. Professor of history and humanities, Robert Hanserd, joins to discuss specific cultural elements.

Our second segment explores rituals and spirituality of the Fon people. The discussion includes the West African region of Ghana and Benin, the rituals of women warriors, and Robert’s rite of passage in writing about africa.

Concluding today’s show is a commentary on the book, Five Hundred African Voices, the accounts of African slave ship survivors. Students highlight Rosa Cruz, a formerly enslaved writer and religious mystic, and Phillis Wheatley, the first known and published African American poet.

Robert Hanserd shares his thoughts on the African symbol of freedom, the black star.

Additional Content:

Wonders of the African World: Slave Ship and Ethiopia

Smithsonian Folkways Recordings

Five Hundred African Voices: A Catalog of Published Accounts by Africans Enslaved in the Transatlantic Slave Trade, 1586-1936

500 African Voices - Student Animations

Martin De Sousa Ritual