Almost Dead: Slavery in the Black Urban Atlantic
February 24, 2024 at 2:00 PM
Slavery in the Black Urban Atlantic
Dr. Michael Dickinson will discuss his recently published book Almost Dead, which explores how enslaved individuals found the physical and psychological resources necessary to endure the seemingly unendurable in early America. This talk in particular will examine resistance and communal survival among enslaved populations in the eighteenth century.
Dr. Michael Lawrence Dickinson is an associate professor of African American history at Virginia Commonwealth University. His research examines free and enslaved Black life and labor in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Dr. Dickinson’s book Almost Dead: Slavery and Social Rebirth in the Black Urban Atlantic was recently published in 2022 and was awarded the Paul Lovejoy Book Prize for excellence in slavery scholarship. Learn More About the Book
With a brave and masterful handling of sources, Michael Lawrence Dickinson moves beyond the bodily trauma of slavery in the Black Urban Atlantic and dives directly into the souls of his subjects. Almost Dead is a deeply moving and important work that centers the power of Black survival and rebirth in the early Anglo-Atlantic world.
—Erica Armstrong Dunbar, author of Never Caught: The Washingtons’ Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge
Provocative, wide ranging, and original, Almost Dead reveals Black people’s efforts to survive in a world of slavery. Deeply sensitive to enslaved people’s own voices, perspectives, and experiences, Michael Dickinson’s moving account of existential violence and resilience transforms our understanding of enslavement, social death, and social life.
—Randy M. Browne, author of Surviving Slavery in the British Caribbean
House Rules for Historic St. John’s Church
We encourage masks but they are no longer required.
Seating is first come, first served. Tickets are required.
There is no food, drink, gum, candy, strollers, backpacks or firearms permitted inside the church.
Bags larger than 16 x 16 x 8 are prohibited inside the church. Any and all bags are subject to inspection. Please leave backpacks and bags inside your vehicle as we have no place to store them.