#230 January 31st, 2022 [Into the Depths]

National Geographic Explorer Tara Roberts embarks on a cultural search and rescue mission that holds the keys to reframing history. The "search" part of this search and rescue is what you might expect from anyone with a worn C-card and PADI certification to their name: breathtaking dives looking for artifacts from ships downed at sea hundreds of years ago.

But, when the focus of your expedition is the Guerrero – a Spanish slave ship off the coast of Florida – and your mission is to piece together the stories of the slaves trapped on board as the vessel sunk to the depths of the ocean, everyone has the chance to gain some perspective and rescue some real history.

Roberts joins Diving With A Purpose, an organization of Black scuba divers and maritime archaeologists, as they crawl the ocean floor for clues to better understand and articulate the stories of the estimated 1.8 million slaves who died, all of whom were forced aboard one of over a thousand ships that eventually sunk in the Atlantic.

That fate is quite possibly the only thing worse than the lifetime of enslavement waiting for them should the ships have made it to shore.

Into The Depths whisks us to coastal communities in Mozambique, South Africa, Senegal, Costa Rica and the United States to tell a truer version of history. We get to hear the personal relationships some Black people have with history, reminding us of the thousands of tribes, peoples, and ethnicities that make up the African diaspora.

To continue piecing together this truer history, Roberts also connects with historians, scholars, and even the descendants of the slaves once trafficked on the ships that departed the ports of slave capitals on the east coast of Africa headed for "The New World".

Keep in mind that academia has an exceptional ability to act as knowledge gatekeepers. In this case, colonialists wrote the rules to the slave trade and rewrote the identities of that African diaspora, forever breaking the ties to Home.

Throughout the podcast, Roberts explores a sentiment best epitomized by the Marcus Garvey quote shared in one of the episodes. That quote is a fitting final thought to leave you with.

Have a listen and let us know what you think,

Stephen and EvanYour Podcast Delivery crew

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