Honoring The Legacy Of The Clotilda Descendants
What A Day
What A Day
4.8 • 166 Ratings
🗓️ 3 February 2023
⏱️ 21 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
To kick off our series on Black History Month, What A Day host Juanita Tolliver sits down with Veda Tunstall and Emmett Lewis, descendants of enslaved people brought to Alabama aboard the Clotilda, the last known slave ship in American history, and whose stories are featured in the Netflix documentary "Descendant."
What A Day is taking a short break, with a new episode on Tuesday, February 7th.
Show Notes:
- Watch ‘Descendant’ | Netflix – https://www.netflix.com/title/81586731
- What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcast
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | It's Friday, February 3rd. |
| 0:08.0 | I'm wanting to tell you this is What a Day. |
| 0:10.6 | This Black History Month, the What a Day team, is excited to bring you stories about |
| 0:14.5 | Black history that are happening in real time, and we're excited to kick things off with |
| 0:18.4 | a conversation about the Netflix documentary, Descendant. |
| 0:22.0 | This film outlines the search and discovery of the Clotilda, the last known ship to arrive |
| 0:27.0 | in the United States, illegally carrying enslaved Africans. |
| 0:31.5 | After a century of secrecy and speculation, the 2019 discovery of the ship turns attention |
| 0:36.2 | toward the Descendant community of African town in Mobile, Alabama, and presents a moving |
| 0:40.7 | portrait of a community actively grappling with and fighting to preserve their heritage |
| 0:45.7 | while examining what justice looks like today. |
| 0:49.2 | The film won a special jury prize at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, and I had an opportunity |
| 0:54.9 | to speak with two Clotilda Descendants. |
| 0:57.4 | Take a listen to our conversation. |
| 0:59.2 | So today I'm joined by Vita Tunstle, a Clotilda Descendant, and Emmett Lewis, a direct descendant |
| 1:05.9 | of Kajou Kazula Lewis, the last known survivor of the Clotilda. |
| 1:10.3 | Emmett and Vita, welcome to What a Day. |
| 1:12.3 | Thank you. |
| 1:13.3 | Thank you for having us. |
| 1:14.3 | Thank you. |
| 1:15.3 | All right, y'all. |
| 1:16.3 | So I have watched Descendant a few times now. |
... |
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