Therefore, "Reversing the Sail." is the idea that the sail is reversed, and moves back to Africa for an analysis of the rich African heritage, tradition, culture, and history that permeates a people, and creates depth in the minds of the descendants. Michael Gomez from the text states,"Scholars of American history have long understood that discussions of the African American experience must begin with a consideration of people and cultures and developments in Africa itself,before the rise of American slavery and the transatlantic slave trade, to debilitate the notion that black folk, prior to their experiences in the Americas, had no history worth of the name." Metaphorically, Gomez realizes that the "sail" as it moves forward works to debilitating the African history that is so rich and emboldens the African American soul. They could not allow Africans to know of their rich history. America and Africa met during a period in which America enslaved people of African descent, and through the enslavement process, the enslavers had to destroy the concept and the history of Africa. It also widens the geographical span to include Latin America, while incorporating more on African experiences in Europe, North Africa, and the Persian Gulf.Īssessing the impact of religion, global trade, slavery and resistance, and the challenges of modernity, this edition further connects the experiences of Africans and their descendants over time and space, attending to both convergences and divergences, while explaining how the deep past informs subsequent developments.Where do we begin with African American history ? African American history encapsulates both America and Africa, but when America and Africa met conflict ensued. Gomez updates the text to include the most recent research on the African Diaspora.Ĭontinuing to pay particular attention to the lives of the working classes, the second edition expands its temporal boundaries to include developments into the twenty-first century, as well as integrating women and feminist perspectives more thoroughly.
Beginning with antiquity, Reversing Sail: A History of the African Diaspora captures the essential political, cultural, social, and economic developments that shaped the black experience.
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