Black Ghost of Empire
The Long Death of Slavery and the Failure of Emancipation
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Narrated by:
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Robin Miles
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Kris Manjapra
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By:
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Kris Manjapra
About this listen
If the 1619 Project illuminated the ways in which life in the United States has been shaped by the existence of slavery, this “historical, literary masterpiece” (Kiese Laymon, author of Heavy) focuses on emancipation and how its afterlife further codified the racial caste system—instead of obliterating it.
To understand why the shadow of slavery still haunts us today, we must look closely at the way it ended. Between the 1770s and 1880s, emancipation processes took off across the Atlantic world. But far from ushering in a new age of human rights and universal freedoms, these emancipations further codified the racial caste systems they claimed to disrupt.
In this paradigm-altering book, acclaimed historian and professor Kris Manjapra identifies five types of emancipations across the globe and reveals that their perceived failures were not failures at all, but the predictable outcomes of policies designed first and foremost to preserve the status quo of racial oppression. In the process, Manjapra shows how, amidst this unfinished history, grassroots Black organizers and activists have become custodians of collective recovery and remedy; not only for our present, but also for our relationship with the past.
Black Ghost of Empire will rewire listeners’ understanding of the world in which we live. Timely, lucid, and crucial to our understanding of contemporary society, this book shines a light into the gap between the idea of slavery’s end and the reality of its continuation—exposing to whom a debt was paid and to whom a debt is owed.
©2022 Kris Manjapra. All rights reserved. Excerpt from "The Sea Is History" from "The Star-Apple Kingdom" by Derek Walcott. Copyright © 1979 by Derek Walcott. Reprinted by permission of Farrar, Straus and Giroux. (P)2022 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.Listeners also enjoyed...
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By: Alan Taylor
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American Slavery: History in an Hour
- By: Kat Smutz
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
- Length: 1 hr and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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>Love history? Know your stuff with History in an Hour. From the first slaves arriving in Jamestown in 1619, the cotton fields in the Southern States, and shipbuilding in New England, to the slaves who laid down their lives in war so that Americans could be free,
American Slavery in an Hour covers the breadth of the subject without sacrificing important historical and cultural details. An important and dark time in Black - and American - history, the era of American slavery is explored in
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American History 101
- By Leslie W. Stewart III on 08-23-16
By: Kat Smutz
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African Founders
- How Enslaved People Expanded American Ideals
- By: David Hackett Fischer
- Narrated by: Lamarr Gulley
- Length: 35 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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African Founders explores the little-known history of how enslaved people from different regions of Africa interacted with colonists of European origins to create new regional cultures in the colonial United States. The Africans brought with them linguistic skills, novel techniques of animal husbandry and farming, and generations-old ethical principles, among other attributes. This startling history reveals how much our country was shaped by these African influences in its early years, producing a new distinctly American culture.
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faux vocalizations
- By Porter on 08-19-22
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The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution: 1763-1789
- By: Robert Middlekauff
- Narrated by: Robert Fass
- Length: 26 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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The first book to appear in the illustrious Oxford History of the United States, this critically-acclaimed volume - a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize - offers an unsurpassed history of the Revolutionary War and the birth of the American republic.
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Strong History Rich With Behind The Scenes Details
- By John on 10-06-11
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El Norte
- The Epic and Forgotten Story of Hispanic North America
- By: Carrie Gibson
- Narrated by: Thom Rivera
- Length: 21 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Because of our shared English language, as well as the celebrated origin tales of the Mayflower and the rebellion of the British colonies, the United States has prized its Anglo heritage above all others. However, as Carrie Gibson explains with great depth and clarity in El Norte, the nation has much older Spanish roots - ones that have long been unacknowledged or marginalized. The Hispanic past of the United States predates the arrival of the Pilgrims by a century, and has been every bit as important in shaping the nation as it exists today.
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Chicken Noodle History
- By Jose on 10-30-19
By: Carrie Gibson
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The Making of Asian America
- A History
- By: Erika Lee
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
- Length: 15 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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In the past 50 years, Asian Americans have helped change the face of America and are now the fastest growing group in the United States. The Making of Asian America tells the little-known history of Asian Americans and their role in American life, from the arrival of the first Asians in the Americas to the present-day.
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Great content, terrible narration
- By Mrs. Rdz on 10-24-15
By: Erika Lee
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1619
- Jamestown and the Forging of American Democracy
- By: James Horn
- Narrated by: Dan Woren
- Length: 6 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Along the banks of the James River, Virginia, during an oppressively hot spell in the middle of summer 1619, two events occurred within a few weeks of each other that would profoundly shape the course of history. In the newly built church at Jamestown, the General Assembly - the first gathering of a representative governing body in America - came together. A few weeks later, a battered privateer entered the Chesapeake Bay carrying the first African slaves to land on mainland English America.
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Brilliant!
- By HonestOpin on 05-06-19
By: James Horn
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Black History: History in an Hour
- By: Rupert Colley
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
- Length: 1 hr and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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History for busy people. Black History, or African-American History, looks at the story and culture of black Americans from the seventeenth century to the present day.Encompassing everything from immigration to civil war, emancipation, slavery and migration, Black History in an Hour gives you a neat overview of this vast and fascinating subject.This audio download is a superb introduction to the long and varied history of African Americans.
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Great Summation
- By Keith Hoopes on 02-03-15
By: Rupert Colley
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Inglorious Empire
- What the British Did to India
- By: Shashi Tharoor
- Narrated by: Shashi Tharoor
- Length: 10 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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In the 18th century, India's share of the world economy was as large as Europe's. By 1947, after two centuries of British rule, it had decreased six-fold. Beyond conquest and deception, the Empire blew rebels from cannons, massacred unarmed protesters, entrenched institutionalized racism, and caused millions to die from starvation. British imperialism justified itself as enlightened despotism for the benefit of the governed, but Shashi Tharoor takes on and demolishes this position, demonstrating how every supposed imperial "gift" was designed in Britain's interests alone.
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An entertaining and provocative history
- By James Moseley on 01-07-20
By: Shashi Tharoor
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Dawn of Detroit
- A Chronicle of Bondage and Freedom in the City of the Straits
- By: Tiya Miles
- Narrated by: Allyson Johnson
- Length: 10 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Most Americans believe that slavery was a creature of the South, and that Northern states and territories provided stops on the Underground Railroad for fugitive slaves on their way to Canada. In this paradigm-shifting book, celebrated historian Tiya Miles reveals that slavery was at the heart of the Midwest's iconic city: Detroit. In this richly researched and eye-opening book, Miles has pieced together the experience of the unfree - both native and African American - in the frontier outpost of Detroit.
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Great!
- By Melissa Eisner on 05-30-18
By: Tiya Miles
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Empire's Crossroads
- A History of the Caribbean from Columbus to the Present Day
- By: Carrie Gibson
- Narrated by: Romy Nordlinger
- Length: 17 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Ever since Christopher Columbus stepped off the Santa Maria onto what is today San Salvador, in the Bahamas, and announced that he had arrived in the Orient, the Caribbean has been a stage for projected fantasies and competition between world powers. In Empire’s Crossroads, British American historian Carrie Gibson traces the story of this coveted area from the northern rim of South America up to Cuba, and from discovery through colonialism to today, offering a vivid, panoramic view of this complex region and its rich, important history.
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Careless production mars storytelling
- By Brenda Thomas on 03-31-16
By: Carrie Gibson
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Haitian Revolution: A History from Beginning to End
- By: Hourly History
- Narrated by: Bridger Conklin
- Length: 1 hr and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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The Haitian Revolution began in 1791 in the French colony of Saint Domingue, when a group of slaves rebelled in order to secure their freedom and the end of slavery. In the midst of the French Revolution, slaves took advantage of volatile political, racial, and social circumstances. With legendary leaders like Toussaint Louverture, they eventually defeated Napoleon’s France to form the independent nation of Haiti. The Haitian Revolution had both global causes and consequences.
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Don't waste your money. Totally superficial!
- By Dana Henry on 08-19-22
By: Hourly History
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Harvest of Empire
- A History of Latinos in America
- By: Juan Gonzalez
- Narrated by: Robert Fass
- Length: 15 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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The first new edition in 10 years of this important study of Latinos in US history, Harvest of Empire spans five centuries - from the first New World colonies to the first decade of the new millennium. Latinos are now the largest minority group in the United States, and their impact on American popular culture - from food to entertainment to literature - is greater than ever.
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The real story behind Immigration
- By Amazon Customer on 11-12-17
By: Juan Gonzalez
What listeners say about Black Ghost of Empire
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Ida Cofield
- 02-22-23
Heart Break
It took me some time to finish this book. It is so sad to read about the treatment of a people just because of the color of their skin. This mistreatment is still going on today. Only the continent of Africa has apologized for their role in sending their people into slavery. England,France,Spain and all the other countries involved in the slave trade including America have never apologized. It amazes me that the people that enslaved people are paid but the people who were enslaved are given nothing. The shipping companies and the banks that supported slavery are still in business today but they have not paid one penny to the descendants of the enslaved but continue to pay the descendants of the enslavers.
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2 people found this helpful
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- KWK
- 08-04-24
Novel framing of ‘how did we get here’
Lots of information new to me on how ‘failure of emancipation’ and recompense to enslavers took place in different countries. Expanded my knowledge of who worked to perpetuate the status quo and who worked with less success to try to make it right for the enslaved their descendants.
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