Winner of the James Harvey Robinson Prize from the American
Historical Association, and widely acclaimed by educators and
students, Abina and the Important Men, 2e is a compelling and
powerfully illustrated "graphic history" based on an 1876 court
transcript of a West African woman named Abina, who was wrongfully
enslaved and took her case to court. The book is a microhistory
that does much more than simply depict an event in the past; it
uses the power of illustration to convey important themes in world
history and to reveal the processes by which history is made. The
story of Abina Mansah-a woman "without history" who was wrongfully
enslaved, escaped to British-controlled territory, and then took
her former master to court-takes place in the complex world of the
Gold Coast at the onset of late nineteenth-century colonialism.
Slavery becomes a contested ground, as cultural practices collide
with an emerging wage economy and British officials turn a blind
eye to the presence of underpaid domestic workers in the households
of African merchants. The main scenes of the story take place in
the courtroom, where Abina strives to convince a series of
"important men"-a British judge, two Euro-African attorneys, a
wealthy African country "gentleman," and a jury of local
leaders-that her rights matter. "Am I free?" Abina inquires.
Throughout both the court case and the flashbacks that dramatically
depict her life in servitude, these men strive to "silence" Abina
and to impose their own understandings and meanings upon her. The
story seems to conclude with the short-term success of the
"important men," as Abina loses her case. But it doesn't end there:
Abina is eventually redeemed. Her testimony is uncovered in the
dusty archives by Trevor Getz and, through Liz Clarke's
illustrations, becomes a graphic history read by people around the
world. In this way, the reader takes an active part in the story
along with the illustrator, the author, and Abina herself.
Following the graphic history in Part I, Parts II-V provide
detailed historical context for the story, a reading guide that
reconstructs and deconstructs the methods used to interpret the
story, and strategies for using Abina in various classroom
settings. This edition adds crucial value to Abina's story and the
reader's experience. These include: - new, additional testimony
uncovered in the National Archives of Ghana - a gender-rich section
in Part V that explores the Abina's life and narrative as a woman,
focusing on such important themes as the relationship between
slavery and gender in pre-colonial Akan society, the role of
marriage in Abina's experience and motives, colonial paternalism,
and the meaning of cloth and beads in her story. - a forum on the
question of whether Abina was a slave with contributions by three
senior scholars working from different perspectives: Sandra Greene,
Antoinette Burton, and Kwasi Konadu .
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