1619-2019: From Trauma to Triumph
In late August of 1619, a ship landed in Point Comfort, Virginia with what was recorded as “20 and odd Negars” on board. In the language of the era, the word ‘negar’ meant black, and these men, women and children from West Central Africa had dark skin, burnished by the sun.
Even before the vessel arrived in this new land, long inhabited by Native Americans, the captives had experienced a harrowing journey.
Robert Trent Vinson, Ph.D., a professor of History and Africana Studies at William & Mary, has spoken about the horrors of the Middle Passage.
