Descendant        4 ½ suns

My personal favorite for the day was Descendant, a documentary about a community of Black people near Mobile, Alabama who are descendants of slaves that were brought to the area on the last slave ship to arrive in America. The shipment, on a vessel called the Clotilda, was illegal as it was done in 1860 long after the slave trade from Africa was outlawed. When the slaves were freed in 1865 this group of former Africans had been in captivity for only five years unlike the other former slaves born into slavery. They banded together and formed the town of Africatown and their descendants still live their surrounded by industrial areas in an environment dangerous to their health. An additional twist is that the industrial land is still owned by the family of the man who brought the slaves here, Timothy Meaher. The wreckage of the Clotilda has long been the subject of myth, but a search in conducted in the movie resulting in its discovery that promises to improve the lives of the town’s inhabitants. I was very impressed with the quality of the storytelling and the inclusion of the residents along with the background of some of the original founders of the town. I hope the film sees much wider release. I would even watch it again with my movie watching friends!