The film Prince Among Slaves depicts a life story of an African prince who became a victim of slavery exactly like any black person. In the history of the transatlantic slave trade, about 20 million slaves were brought to the American territory. Even now, this number looks unthinkable, but this process was going on for three hundred years without breaks. It was an incredibly lucrative business: black slaves were valued at least as much as liquid black gold now.
In 1788, a ship with slaves called “Africa” came to America from West Africa with a cargo: hundreds of men, women, and children. They were slaves, and several months later, those who managed to survive were sold in the town of Natchez, Mississippi. Among them, there was a young man named Abdur-Rahman. He had an interesting personality. When he was bought by a planter Thomas Foster, he offered a deal to him. He told Foster that he was a Prince and his family was ready to pay for his freedom. However, a planter remained indifferent to the destiny of a young man: he refused the deal and at the same time predetermined the future of Abdur-Rahman. The reason was quite simple: he just needed a slave, and they were valued higher than money! As any other slaveholder, he did not care about the life of a person with the black color of the skin who was bought by him to work on his plantation (Prince Among Slaves).
Such an action of the planter played a decisive role: Abdur-Rahman did not see his motherland for 40 years. Being a slave and working on the plantation, he even got married, had many children, but it was still a life of a slave. He finally got freedom when he was 67 years old, but did not return to Africa at once: his main goal was to make his children free by all means. When he got a chance to free two of his children and came to Africa for money, the years spent in slavery played their role: he got sick and died. The life of Abdul-Rahman is fascinating and represents an interesting story reflected in this documentary, which provides useful information as about slavery, American history, and the history of Africa.
I was impressed with the quality of production. It has a large set of advanced features, and the director really took the time to depict the historical period. The presented facts improved my understanding of this period in American history. The history of slavery in the early years of America is also represented in a real way, showing both slaves and slaveholders as real people (Prince Among Slaves). It shows how awful slavery was in its dehumanizing effect on people taken as slaves. The documentary describes in detail slave-owning ships, slaves, and a plantation, giving a solid foundation for the idea that one person can rise above his misfortune in a foreign world to which he or she was sold.
If you are interested in the history of America, slavery, Islam in America or the history of Africa, you should watch this film. It is full of interesting facts about this historical period. It is a story to tell, and I am glad that the director of the film took the time to tell about it.
Work Cited
Prince Among Slaves. Directed by Andrea Kalin, Bill Duke, performances by John C. Bailey, Yasiin Bey, Henian Boone, United Production, 2006.