Descendant–The Last Slave Ship

Descendant is a National Geographic-produced documentary about their mission to discover the Clotilda, the last known slave ship  to bring African people to the US.   The Clotilda arrived in Mobile Bay, Alabama in 1859 carrying 110 men, women, and children as cargo. The Clotilda was illegally transporting these people.  The Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves in 1807 was flaunted and the slave trade continued even after the Civil War ended.   Hoping to remain under the radar, the owners of the Clotilda set the ship afire to destroy evidence and avoid possible criminal prosecution. 

Descendant highlights the impact of the past on the injustices of today. Discovered more than 200+ years after the Clotilda’s sinking in 2019, Descendant highlights Africatown and its Clotilda descendants.   An independent all-Black community, originally established to seek refuge and solace from the slavers in Mobile, they now are determined to  preserve the US history that has been erased, including building a memorial and museum. 

The award-winning documentarian,  Margaret Brown, a resident of Mobile, Alabama herself,  also looks into the environmental and societal impact on Africatown from the White corporate and residential community.   The Meaher family (descendants of the slaver who owned the Clotilda), give their first public statement of apology condemning their ancestors’ crime.  Some are remorseful; others intransigent. 

While Descendant is a low-budget film with much less polish and cinematographic editing than a Ken Burns documentary, it is a riveting account of erasure of history. Only by awareness and understanding of the US’s past horrors, can the present be comprehended and the future be improved.  A must for US history students and for truth-telling.

Availability: Netlix

Note 1: The wreck site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2021

Note 2: Descendant, winner of the  2022 Sundance Film Festival Jury Prize,  is still seeking justice and reparations through its advocacy groups.  For more information, visit https://participant.com/actions/support-africatowns-community-organizations/