Slavery, from Africa to America through emancipation and overcoming to succeed.
High Cotton chronicles the life of a 12 year old boy, his kidnapping, and being sold into slavery. He suffered torture and abuse and witnessed horrible events prior to and during his journey via slave trader ship to America. He was auctioned to a plantation and eventually emancipated. He returns to the sea aboard the same ship he arrived on, and remains until the death of the ships Captain. Left a substantial amount of money by the Captain only to be conned by a carpetbagger, he looses everything and ends up a beggar on the streets of St. Louis. A very talented entertainer, even though a black man in a society of white aristocracy, he gains popularity and becomes an owner of a night club and faces adversity on every hand.
Excerpt
The captors were ruthless, and to them the villagers were simply captured prey, animals being taken to the market. Loaded into the boats, the villagers were taken down river, about eighty miles, to Lagos, a seaport where slave traders anxiously awaited their arrival. The trip was nine hours of pure torture. No food, no water, no stops to care for personal needs, beatings with whips for those who would cause trouble, and abuse occurred constantly. The younger of the females were not molested because that would then damage the goods and reduce the price the King could receive. The more mature women however were subjected to horrible abuse. Small children and babies would not survive. The crack of the bullwhip was a reminder. They were now enslaved, and subject to the will of others.
Upon their arrival at Lagos, Manni and Jalani could see the large ships anchored in the harbor. A sight they had never seen. About eight other boats were also docked ready to sell their slaves. There were men on the docks watching as the people were removed from the boats. Manni was amazed to see so many with white skin. The only other white skin he had seen was a missionary who came to the village. The slave traders immediately began an attempt to buy those they perceived as prime slave material. Manni realized they were nothing but a product being sold for money.
One of the buyers stood out from the others. He was a Dutchman with long black curly hair and an almost clean appearance. His speech and mannerisms were father-like as he took part in the bidding for the twenty slaves. Manni thought he looked kind, but that was all a facade. Hannibal was his name and he was known by the other slave traders as one of the most brutal of all. Two others stood with Hannibal, as he surveyed the new crop of potential slaves. He walked over to several young males and females grouped together, in an attempt to comfort each other and hoping the buyers would ignore them. Hannibal pulled one young female from the group. Holding her by her hair at arms length, he looked her over. He then shoved her toward the other two men who began to strip her clothing and left her standing in front of all, naked. Hannibal turned back to her, looked once again, and pushed her away. She was rejected.
Hannibal reached out to the same group, taking a male, and then pushing him toward the other two men, who immediately stripped him. The men then began to make gross comments, bringing laughter from the buyers huddled around. Hannibal moved him to the side with the slaves he wished to purchase. Hannibal looked at a woman standing alone. She was probably 18 or 19 years old, and was holding a small child. He knew the child would never survive the journey to America. Hannibal signaled to one of his men and pointed to the baby. The man grabbed the child from the mother and amid her screams and protests, drew a knife and slaughtered the child. There was no use wasting time, space or food on one would not survive anyway. The two men then pulled the woman over behind some crates, where she was beaten and abused. And then left her lying on the ground. The woman began to crawl out from behind the crates. Manni, Jalani, and another man, helped the woman up and quickly surrounded her by the other men and women in the group of 50 or more that Hannibal had selected.
5.0 out of 5 stars Truly Exciting Book, April 12, 2014
By
Caglevision - See all my reviews
This review is from: High Cotton (Kindle Edition)
It was truly an honor to read this book. This is the story of two young men kidnapped from Africa, what happens to them and what they had to go through. Strangely enough it reads like a real story. The research is phenomenal. As you read this piece you find yourself captured in time. It tells us about slavery and the horrors of it all. The story is well written and easy to understand. The characters are well developed. So much so that you even get to empathize with the captain of the slave ship Capt Hannibal. In him we see his struggles. We see the inner fight of doing his job and doing what he knows is right. We watch Manni grow up and how his life unfolds. Through Manni, we get to experience human spirituality as it is faced with a diversity of challenges. Though there are many sad times, this book is truly inspirational and exciting. There are many twists and turns. The book takes you through an emotional roller coaster and drops you off in places that you never expected. I give this book 5 stars and highly recommend it.
Available Now! Rated 5 ***** by readers and listeners.
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