I of Ebony

I of Ebony, is a novel of 292 pages and it was published in 1999 in Banjul. In 1834, Simanga is captured in his village to be taken as a slave with other men and women from different regions along the river Gambia. This situation was one of forced cohabitation of populations who were satisfied to coexist. On the island where the “prisoners” were herded, a cruel slave-merchant reigned. But Simanga will be able to rebel against him and escape from the island. He was forced somehow to take refuge in Bathurst as at that time the British forbade slavery in their colonies and housed refugees, because they did not have the means to prevent and forbid the slave trade. This book can be considered a response, from within, to the odyssey of slaves taken to the USA (Alex Haley’s book Roots portrays the story).