Charting the journey.In Motion: The African-American Relocation Experience by Howard Dodson and Sylvain A. Diouf National Geographic Books, January 2005 $35, ISBN ISBN abbr. International Standard Book Number ISBN International Standard Book Number ISBN n abbr (= International Standard Book Number) → ISBN m 0-792-27385-0 In Motion is as big and bold as the history it seeks to relate. Dodson, director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, and Diouf, an award-winning author and researcher, document the history of the forced and voluntary migrations of peoples of African descent to the Americas, specifically to the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. . Meticulously researched and beautifully written, In Motion succeeds in rendering an epic tale starting with the Transatlantic Slave Trade slave trade Capturing, selling, and buying of slaves. Slavery has existed throughout the world from ancient times, and trading in slaves has been equally universal. Slaves were taken from the Slavs and Iranians from antiquity to the 19th century, from the sub-Saharan in the mid-15th century and ending with African migration to the United States in the late 20th and early 21st century. In between, the authors document the domestic slave trade and the journeys of fugitives, as well as the Great Migrations of the 20th century. If this were all that the authors accomplished, they would have covered significant but familiar territory. The last fourth of the book, however, explores waves of Caribbean immigration--giving special attention to Haitian immigration--the return of large numbers of black Americans to the South, and the voluntary migration of contemporary Africans to the United States. As such, the book forces a reconsideration of our understanding of black migration and encourages us to be more comprehensive and inclusive. All aspects of the tale told by Dodson and Diouf focus on the agency of black people in motion. They are not only the hapless hap·less adj. Luckless; unfortunate. See Synonyms at unfortunate. hap  less·ly adv. objects
of economic and political forces beyond their control, they are also
actors, making choices to mobilize mo·bi·lizev. 1. To make mobile or capable of movement. 2. To restore the power of motion to a joint. 3. To release into the body, as glycogen from the liver. , to leave, to seek better opportunities and to "make themselves a new people." The text is brimming brim n. 1. The rim or uppermost edge of a hollow container or natural basin. 2. A projecting rim or edge: the brim of a hat. 3. A border or an edge. See Synonyms at border. with exquisite illustrations, including maps, photographs, paintings and etchings, all of which bring to life the grand saga to be found on its pages. Although In Motion is informed by cutting-edge scholarship, it is also accessible, clear and inviting. It is one of those books that should find its way into libraries, classrooms and homes throughout the African Diaspora The African diaspora is the diaspora created by the movements and cultures of Africans and their descendants throughout the world, to places such as the Americas, (including the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, Central America, and South America) Europe and Asia. , indeed throughout the world. |
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