Prince Among Slaves (film)

Prince Among Slaves is a historical documentary directed, written and produced by Andrea Kalin and narrated by Mos Def made for PBS by [http://www.upf.tv/upf06/ Unity Productions Foundation] and Spark Media. [Matthew Borlik, Washington City Paper, Nov. 30, 2007] The film retells the story of Abdulrahman Ibrahim Ibn Sori, a prince from West Africa who was made a slave in the United States and freed 40 years later.

Summary

Based on a biography by Northern Virginia Community College history professor [http://www.nvcc.edu/home/talford/ Terry Alford] , Prince Among Slaves chronicles Abdul Rahman’s true life African-Muslim-prince-turned-American-slave drama cycle with historic and scholastic commentary along the way.

The story begins with Rahman’s capture at age 26 during a military campaign against non-Muslims in Guinea in 1788, and follows his sale to British slave traders, transport to America on the slave ship Africa to New Orleans, arrival into bondage at Thomas Foster’s tobacco plantation in Natchez, Mississippi, the ensuing 40 years of enslavement and his eventual liberation.

The unlikely story of his liberation began with a chance meeting with Dr. John Cox, who Rahman’s father helped in Africa. Cox offered to buy Rahman from Foster, but he refused. Two decades later Cox’s son William enlisted the help of local newspaper editor Andrew Marschalk to Rahman’s cause. Articles written by Marschalk caught the attention of then Secretary of State Henry Clay, who convinced President John Quincy Adams to free Rahman. The liberated prince immediately purchased the freedom of his wife Isabella for $200, and remained in America for a year campaigning to free his nine children still enslaved on Foster’s cotton plantation. He toured the northern cities, petitioning abolitionist groups and politicians for the money necessary to buy his family’s freedom. He succeeded in raising only enough money for two of his children and their families who joined Isabella in Liberia. Rahman returned to Africa, but died before reaching his kingdom in Futa Jallon. The film ends with Rahman’s living descendants from both sides of the Atlantic reunited for the first time at the fateful plantation in Natchez, with family members reacting to the discovery of their shared royal and slave heritage after nearly 200 years of disconnection.

Background

The producers were drawn to the project during the spiritual turmoil that followed September 11. According to Alex Kronemer, one of Unity Productions Foundation’s executive producers, the story brought up an question about the plight of slaves completely disconnected from their native cultures. “In times of great tension and stress, people seek out their religious connections. But what was the spiritual life of the enslaved Africans? We don’t know much about that.” [Laura Harbold, NEH Humanities Magazine, Abdul Rahman Prince Among Slaves, September/October 2006]

That Abdul Rahman had a religion, and was a Muslim, and a prince all at once, upsets many stereotypes, according to Director Andrea Kalin, whose films generally focus on bridging communication gaps between cultures. “Many people don’t realize that up to 30 percent of slaves that came to America were Muslim. That didn’t last past the first generation, but their customs are still evident in blues and some of the South’s food.” [Katie Stallcup, Life of African Prince Leads Filmmakers to Natchez, The Natchez Democrat, October 1.,2006]

“It’s a universal story.” Kronemer said. “It’s paradise lost. We all wonder what would happen if we lost it all. Here’s a story about someone who lost an entire empire and emerged intact.” [Laura Harbold, NEH Humanities Magazine, Abdul Rahman Prince Among Slaves, September/October 2006]

At the time of his capture in 1788, Abdul Rahman commanded an army bigger than George Washington’s in a country larger than the 13 original U.S. states. [Dan Zak, In Film In Antebellum Miss., St. Mary's Acts as the Stand-In, June 18, 2006, The Washington Post]

It was Abdul-Rahman's extraordinary status that makes the story exemplify the ordinary in the experience of slavery, according to Mary McNamara of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_Times "Los Angeles Times"] . “His education and his brief fame make it a bit easier to tell his story, to know the sequence of certain events, the thoughts in his mind. But every one of the 16 million Africans abducted and sold had a similar story. Every African had a family left behind, a job, a past, a world in which he or she belonged. Every slave had to come to their own terms of submission or die.” [Mary McNamara, Prince Among Slaves, February 4, 2008, Los Angeles Times, http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/tv/la-et-prince4feb04,0,2572325.storyInsert footnote text here]

ee also

* Abdulrahman Ibrahim Ibn Sori

References

External links

* [http://www.princeamongslaves.tv Prince Among Slaves Official Movie Site]
* [http://www.upf.tv/upf06/VideoLibrary/UPFProductions/PrinceAmongSlaves/tabid/158/Default.aspx Trailer to the Unity Productions Foundation PBS documentary "Prince Among Slaves" that chronicles the life of Ibrahim_Abd_ar-Rahman]
* [http://www.muslimwiki.com/mw/index.php/Ibrahim_Abd_ar-Rahman MuslimWiki Ibrahim Abd ar-Rahman]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0852992/ IMDb Prince Among Slaves (2006)]
* [http://www.pbs.org/princeamongslaves/ Prince Among Slaves | PBS]
* [http://engagemn.com/2008/01/19/film-challenges-convention-on-muslims-africans-slave-era-america/ Film Challenges Convention on Muslims, Africans, Slave-Era America]