Renaming the Transatlantic Trade in Enslaved Humans

1619 was so evil, it needs it own word. “Maafa” means “Great Disaster” in Swahili. Some African Studies scholars think we should be using it.

Street art: 1968 Olympics Black Power (human rights) salute. Melbourne, Thornbury ( ©Melbourne Street Art Avantgarde Flickr)

In 1988, Marimba Ani wrote Let the Circle Be Unbroken: The Implications of African Spirituality in the Diaspora. The book introduced the idea of using a special Swahili word to describe the transatlantic trade in enslaved Africans.