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Wake: The Hidden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts
Part graphic novel, part memoir, Wake is an imaginative tour-de-force that tells the story of women-led slave revolts and chronicles scholar Rebecca Hall’s efforts to uncover the truth about these women warriors who, until now, have been left out of the historical record.
Women warriors planned and led slave revolts on slave ships during the Middle Passage. They fought their enslavers throughout the Americas. And then they were erased from history.
Wake tells the story of Dr. Rebecca Hall, a historian, granddaughter of slaves, and a woman haunted by the legacy of slavery. The accepted history of slave revolts has always told her that enslaved women took a back seat. But Rebecca decides to look deeper, and her journey takes her through old court records, slave ship captain’s logs, crumbling correspondence, and even the forensic evidence from the bones of enslaved women from the “negro burying ground� uncovered in Manhattan. She finds women warriors everywhere.
Using in-depth archival research and a measured use of historical imagination, Rebecca constructs the likely pasts of Adono and Alele, women rebels who fought for freedom during the Middle Passage, as well as the stories of women who led slave revolts in Colonial New York. We also follow Rebecca’s own story as the legacy of slavery shapes life, both during her time as a successful attorney and later as a historian seeking the past that haunts her.
Illustrated beautifully in black and white, Wake will take its place alongside classics of the graphic novel genre, like Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis and Art Spiegelman’s Maus. The story of both a personal and national legacy, it is a powerful reminder that while the past is gone, we still live in its wake.
Women warriors planned and led slave revolts on slave ships during the Middle Passage. They fought their enslavers throughout the Americas. And then they were erased from history.
Wake tells the story of Dr. Rebecca Hall, a historian, granddaughter of slaves, and a woman haunted by the legacy of slavery. The accepted history of slave revolts has always told her that enslaved women took a back seat. But Rebecca decides to look deeper, and her journey takes her through old court records, slave ship captain’s logs, crumbling correspondence, and even the forensic evidence from the bones of enslaved women from the “negro burying ground� uncovered in Manhattan. She finds women warriors everywhere.
Using in-depth archival research and a measured use of historical imagination, Rebecca constructs the likely pasts of Adono and Alele, women rebels who fought for freedom during the Middle Passage, as well as the stories of women who led slave revolts in Colonial New York. We also follow Rebecca’s own story as the legacy of slavery shapes life, both during her time as a successful attorney and later as a historian seeking the past that haunts her.
Illustrated beautifully in black and white, Wake will take its place alongside classics of the graphic novel genre, like Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis and Art Spiegelman’s Maus. The story of both a personal and national legacy, it is a powerful reminder that while the past is gone, we still live in its wake.
208 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 2021
251 people are currently reading
30.2k people want to read
About the author
Rebecca Hall
1book130followersRebecca Hall, JD, PhD, is a scholar, activist, and educator. After graduating Berkeley Law in 1989, she represented low-income tenants and homeless families for eight years before returning to get her PhD in history. She has taught at UC Santa Cruz, Berkeley Law, Berkeley’s history department, and as a visiting professor of law at the University of Utah. She writes and publishes on the history of race, gender, law, and resistance as well as articles on climate justice and intersectional feminist theory. Rebecca has been an activist her entire life, fighting for women’s and LGBT rights and against nuclear weapons, Apartheid, and US militarism. She is dedicated to the movement for Climate Justice, and is also currently involved with Black Lives Matter and rapid response support for families facing deportation. She is also working on a collection of essays on the history of “racialized gender� in developing chattel slavery in America, and how this shapes our constructs of race and gender to this day. Dr. Hall’s work has been supported by numerous grants and fellowships, including the American Association of University Women, The Ford Foundation, The Mellon Foundation, and the Woodrow Wilson Foundation.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,073 reviews
June 4, 2021
Have you ever seen something out of the corner of your eye, but when you turn to focus, it's gone? Like invisible forces have shaped everything around you, but you've lost the words to describe them. This is what it means to live in the wake of slavery.
this powerful graphic novel is told from the perspective of author rebecca hall, ahistorian who says she is haunted and hunted by the past. we follow her investigation of the many black women who planned and led slave revolts; a piece of history that has been continually erased and forgotten.
my only critique would be of the art style. it's very creative and inventive, but not particularly pleasing to the eye. nonetheless, there is some amazingly powerful imagery here.
the book's blend of history and historian's memoir is just right. not only is there a lot to learn about the woman warriors who led slave revolts (both on transport ships and once they were in the US), but this book shows just how much work goes into uncovering history once it has been erased.
This work I'm doing is hard, and it hurts. It hurts so bad.
hall talks about slavery as a trauma that the US has undergone; and not very long ago. when we are able to heal from trauma, "it becomes a part of us that we acknowledge, and provides understanding of our world." this goes for all of us living in the wake of slavery. i highly recommend this book as an opportunity to learn from and acknowledge this history.
Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for providing me with a copy of this book in return for an honest review.
April 22, 2023
Dr. Rebecca Hall, an African-American historian, has done a lot of intensive research into the underreported or completely forgotten aspects of slavery. In this book we follow part of her research, as she uncovers the role of slave women in revolts against their slavers - something that has been underestimated until now.
She dives into archives in the US and UK, and faces quite some resistance - to put it bluntly, white people do not like being confronted with their past as slavers. The book vividly depicts what Dr. Hall finds, while she permits herself some speculation and invention on part of the subjects she's working around.
The stories of the enslaved women are of course remarkable, and show how the slavers greatly underestimated their collective power. It is fantastic to see these stories get the attention they deserve, and I think publishing them in the form of a graphic novel is an excellent way to make them available to a much larger audience.
It's interesting that the slavers get near to no attention, even tend to be omitted from illustrations, which only feels right, and was a deft choice.
At set points in the story, we get moments where Dr. Hall is overcome by what she finds, and she bursts out crying. I'm in two minds about this - I don't doubt she was and is severely affected by her findings, but it did start to give me the impression that the book was pressuring me into what to feel, and at what moment.
I feel the art isn't always as strong as an important subject like this deserves. It does do a neat thing where we see Dr. Hall moving around our present world, while simultaneously showing the enslaved people in reflections (think car windows, rain puddles, store windows), making a palpable connection between then and now. It's quite elegant.
It's an important book, but not without faults.
3.5 stars
(Thanks to Simon & Schuster for providing me with an ARC through Edelweiss)
She dives into archives in the US and UK, and faces quite some resistance - to put it bluntly, white people do not like being confronted with their past as slavers. The book vividly depicts what Dr. Hall finds, while she permits herself some speculation and invention on part of the subjects she's working around.
The stories of the enslaved women are of course remarkable, and show how the slavers greatly underestimated their collective power. It is fantastic to see these stories get the attention they deserve, and I think publishing them in the form of a graphic novel is an excellent way to make them available to a much larger audience.
It's interesting that the slavers get near to no attention, even tend to be omitted from illustrations, which only feels right, and was a deft choice.
At set points in the story, we get moments where Dr. Hall is overcome by what she finds, and she bursts out crying. I'm in two minds about this - I don't doubt she was and is severely affected by her findings, but it did start to give me the impression that the book was pressuring me into what to feel, and at what moment.
I feel the art isn't always as strong as an important subject like this deserves. It does do a neat thing where we see Dr. Hall moving around our present world, while simultaneously showing the enslaved people in reflections (think car windows, rain puddles, store windows), making a palpable connection between then and now. It's quite elegant.
It's an important book, but not without faults.
3.5 stars
(Thanks to Simon & Schuster for providing me with an ARC through Edelweiss)
January 7, 2022
First book of the year: 5*. That's promising!
April 22, 2021
Dr. Rebecca Hall is a self-described Black lesbian scholar activist. Wake is her journey while earning her PHD where she sought to discover more about the forgotten women during slavery who played a key part in revolts. Despite historians believing that Black women were no threat she understands that Black women have always been resilient force to be reckoned with. Scouring old court records, newspaper articles, slave ship logs, insurance policies and other correspondence she sets out to uncover the stories of these women.
I particularly enjoyed the chapter about her trip to England. As she notes The British always try to ignore away their colonial past even though the products of colonialism are still evident everywhere. As a Black person from the US she is treated better than her Black British counterparts. However when she approaches Lloyd's of London she is met with resistant when attempting to access their records as the company tries to hide their ties as an insurer during slavery. The same Lloyd's of London that finally decided after last summer's protests to now seek out an archivist to examine it's artefacts for links to the slave trade.
The lack of written history where these women are referred to as woman #1 or #2 often means piecing together what we know about their origins and making our own inferences. Although the past is painful it's important to keep these stories alive and give these people the respect and reverence they deserve but were never afforded. This graphic novel format makes it easier to consume this history in a way just seeing the written words on the page alone would not. The art style is as raw as the history it explores and engaging throughout.
I received an arc from Simon & Schuster in exchange for an honest review.
Originally posted at
June 27, 2021
Thank you to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
'Wake' tells the important stories of forgotten female-led slave revolts through a tasteful combination of historical context, present-day memoir, and vivid imagery. The unfortunate truth of the matter is that these stories have been hidden, ignored, and buried throughout time, and the author effectively showcases her struggle in uncovering the truth.
This graphic truly does an excellent job at expressing information that the author uncovers in a way that makes it seem that you're there with her, struggling for the truth of what really happened. What follows is both historical information of the women that Hall discovered, as well as her own journey in finding that information.
The art definitely plays as much a role in expressing things to the reader as the author's own voice does. It's detailed where it needs to be, precise and effective in its role.
The formatting was a little weird, perhaps because I read it in PDF form, but I would definitely consider this book a must-read for everyone. Disheartening as it was to see how these women and their actions had been silenced and hidden, it really is up to us to keep their stories and legacies alive.
'Wake' tells the important stories of forgotten female-led slave revolts through a tasteful combination of historical context, present-day memoir, and vivid imagery. The unfortunate truth of the matter is that these stories have been hidden, ignored, and buried throughout time, and the author effectively showcases her struggle in uncovering the truth.
This graphic truly does an excellent job at expressing information that the author uncovers in a way that makes it seem that you're there with her, struggling for the truth of what really happened. What follows is both historical information of the women that Hall discovered, as well as her own journey in finding that information.
The art definitely plays as much a role in expressing things to the reader as the author's own voice does. It's detailed where it needs to be, precise and effective in its role.
The formatting was a little weird, perhaps because I read it in PDF form, but I would definitely consider this book a must-read for everyone. Disheartening as it was to see how these women and their actions had been silenced and hidden, it really is up to us to keep their stories and legacies alive.
February 1, 2021
Part memoir, part history. So many stories I hadn't heard before.
August 15, 2022
(Review in Ukrainian below)
This book is not terrible, but it left me with a very bad impression.
First of all, its name is misleading - there is no "hidden history of women-led slave revolts". What we do have here are breadcrumbs of information that the author managed to find, and a huge amount of her "historical imagination". In other words, she finds documents on slave executions and "historically assumes" the circumstances under which enslaved women fell upon such fate.
Second, I was very impressed by the contrast between the way the author describes the world around her and her actual life. According to Hall's descriptions, the world is full of evil white people who dream of ruining her life. Not allowing her in the archive? Because they are racists. Didn't submit the documents she demanded immediately? Because they are trying to hide the crimes of their white ancestors. Forbade her to carry a computer into a guarded building? Precisely because of the color of her skin, what other reason can there be. Whilst she flew halfway around the world for these documents!
The only "good white" person in the book is Hall's wife.
That is, let's summarize: Rebecca Hall has a white wife with whom she raises a child, lives in California, has a profession of her choice and an opportunity to quit her job and travel the world in order to rummage through various archives. It sounds like a very comfortable and I would dare say a privileged life not every woman is able to have even now in the 21st century. However, after listening to the author, one gets the impression that she is very offended by the society and the surrounding world.
I am not black and will never know what it's like to live the life of an African American woman in this day and age. However, I am a person, I am a woman, I am a Ukrainian born in the first year of my country's independence after many centuries of bloody colonization and oppression. And yes - slavery. Even today I live in a war. So yes. I'm not black. But I dare to assume that I have some understanding of the words "oppression", "discrimination", "historical memory" and "wake".
Actually, my next question is on the last one. Wake. The author constantly emphasizes that she lives in the wake after the slavery. Slavery, which was abolished about 160 years ago, after which came about eight generations (seven at the time of writing this book) of people. I understand why we can say that humanity now lives in the wake after the USSR. It's been only 30 years since its collapse, and there are still lots of people raised by the USSR around. Moreover, some of them are trying to "restore historical justice" by destroying independent Ukraine right this very moment. But talking about the wake after the slavery, when neither you nor your parents saw any of it? When you have a frankly privileged, well-arranged life? I don't understand this. Nor do I understand why the author expresses such an attitude towards today's white people in the book - as if they are still slavers in her eyes.
Finally, the last, but the most important moment, which drove the nail in the coffin of my attitude towards this book - the story of the "rebellion" of two slaves (an Indian man and a black woman), which implied that they killed their master and his entire family, including a pregnant wife and five children. From the manner of the execution, Rebecca Hall concluded that the mastermind behind this murder, excuse me, revolt, was the woman. The author is saddened to the point of tears that her name is not mentioned in the documents, and that there is almost no info about her or that incident. She calls the nameless slave a "warrior", and says that the reason of the murder indicated in the documents (offense at the master for not letting her go out) is an outright lie. I don't know if I should comment that we have no data on the veracity of this info, other than the opinion of the author. But what I definitely want to talk about is her attitude towards the person who participated in the murder of five children and a pregnant woman. This, I emphasize, is not a "warrior". Not a "rebel". This is a brutal killer. No matter what life that nameless slave led, no matter how terrible her master was, killing children and a pregnant woman does not justify it, and it will never be noble in my eyes. Crying for such a person and calling her a warrior? After reading this, I regretted opening this book in the first place.
Briefly about the printed edition of The Wake itself. In short, it is too small. This book should have been published in a bigger format, closer to A4, because the texts here are so tiny that you might actually need a magnifying glass to read them. As for the illustrations, this is a subjective moment - I can only say that I personally did not like them, because they some of them looked confusing, and the dark-skinned characters were drawn in such a way that it constantly seemed to me that they had no skin. It was creepy.
When you pick up a book on such a difficult and painful topic as slavery, you feel almost obliged to rate it highly. Because what else can you do? You don't want to seem like a callous person, and even more so - a racist. But I have no desire to flatten, I only want to call it as I see it. Just because this book is about slavery, it doesn't make it good. 2 stars from me.
А тепер українською.
Ця книга не жахлива, але вона залишила мене під дуже неприємним враженням.
По-перше, її назва оманлива - тут немає як такої «схованої історії повстань рабинь». Що тут є, так це хлібні крихти інформації, які вдалося знайти авторці, та величезна доля її «історичних допущень». Себто вона знаходить документ, де написано, що в такому-то році була страчена рабиня, і «історично зважено» (с) вигадує обставини, за якими ту спіткала така доля.
Друге - мені сильно впадав в око контраст між тим, як авторка описує світ навколо, і тим, яке життя фактично має. За описами Холл виходить, що світ переповнений злими білими людьми, які тільки і мріють, щоб псувати їй життя. Не пустили в архів? Расисти. Не одразу надали документи? Намагаються сховати злочини своїх білих пращурів. Не дозволили проносити комп'ютер в будівлю, що охороняється? Точно через колір шкіри, які ще можуть бути варіанти. А вона ж заради цих документів через півсвіту летіла!
Єдина «хороша біла» людина в книзі - дружина самої Холл.
Тобто, підсумуємо: Ребекка Холл має білу дружину, з якою виховує дитину, працює ким хоче, живе в Каліфорнії і має можливість полишити роботу і подорожувати світом заради того, щоб копирсатися в різноманітних архівах. Звучить, як дуже комфортне та я б навіть сказала привілейоване життя, яке тільки в 21 віці і зустрінеш. І те далеко не всюди. Однак, послухавши авторку, складається враження, ніби вона дуже ображена поведінкою навколишнього світу по відношенню до себе.
Я не темношкіра і ніколи не дізнаюся, як це - жити життя афроамериканки у наші часи. Проте, я людина, я жінка, я українка, що народилася в перший рік незалежності моєї держави після багатьох століть кривавої колонізації та утискань. І кріпацтва. Навіть сьогодні я живу в війні. Тож так. Я не темношкіра. Але наважуся припустити, що деяке розуміння слів "утиснення", "дискримінація", "історична пам'ять" та "wake" все ж маю.
Власне, моє наступне питання саме до останнього. До wake. Авторка постійно наголошує, що живе in the wake after the slavery. Рабства, яке скасували близько 160 років тому, з якого прийшло приблизно вісім поколінь (сім на момент написання цієї книжки). Я розумію, чому можна сказати, що людство зараз живе in the wake after the USSR, бо з моменту його розпаду пройшло лише 30 років, і людей, вихованих СРСР, навколо все ще дуже багато. Ба більш - деякі з них і зараз намагаються "відновити історичну справедливість", знищивши незалежну Україну. Але казати про the wake after the slavery, коли ні ти, ні твої батьки його не застали? Коли в тебе відверто привілейоване, гарно влаштоване життя? Я не розумію цього. Як і не розумію, чому авторка в книзі виражає таке ставлення до білих людей, ніби вони прямо зараз продовжують бути рабовласниками.
Нарешті, останній, але найважливіший момент, який і забив цвях в труну мого ставлення до цієї книги - історія про "повстання" двох рабів (індійського чоловіка та темношкірої жінки), яке зводилося до того, що вони вбили свого хазяїна та всю його сім'ю: вагітну жінку та п'ятьох малих дітей. З огляду на вид страти Ребекка Холл дійшла висновку, що головною у цьому вбивстві, пробачте, повстанні, була жінка. Авторку до сліз засмучує, що в документах не вказується її ім'я і що про неї та той випадок майже немає свідоцтв. Вона називає безіменну рабиню "воїтелькою", а причину вбивства, вказану в документах (образа на хазяїна за те, що не дозволив піти гуляти) - відвертою брехнею. Я не знаю, чи варто коментувати, що ми не маємо жодних даних про правдивість цієї інфи, окрім думки авторки. Але от що я точно хочу проговорити, так це її ставлення до людини, що брала участь у вбивстві п'ятьох дітей та вагітної жінки. Це, наголошую, не "воїтелька". Не "повстанка". Це - жорстока вбивця. Яке б життя та безіменна рабиня не вела, яким би страшним не був її хазяїн, вбивство дітей та вагітної це не виправдовує, і ніколи в моїх очах цей вчинок не буде шляхетним. Плакати за такою людиною та називати її воїтелькою? Прочитавши це, я пожаліла, що взагалі відкрила цю книгу.
Коротенько про фізичний аспект - саме друковане видання The Wake. Коротко кажучи, воно замале. Цю книжку треба було видавати форматом, ближчим до А4, тому що текст тут настільки малий, що його зручно читати хіба що з лупою. Що ж до ілюстрацій, то це момент на любителя - можу сказати лише, що особисто мені вони не прийшлися до душі, бо виглядали часом плутано, а темношкірі персонажі були промальовані таким чином, що мені постійно здавалося, ніби на них не було шкіри. Від цього було моторошно.
Коли береш в руки книгу на настільки тяжку та болючу тему, як рабство, то відчуваєш себе практично зобов'язаним високо її оцінити. Бо як же інакше? Ти ж не хочеш здатися черствою людиною, а то й ба більш - расисткою. Але я хочу не лестити, а називати речі своїми іменами. Тільки від того, що ця книга про рабство, вона не стає гарною чи якісною. Від мене 2 зірки.
This book is not terrible, but it left me with a very bad impression.
First of all, its name is misleading - there is no "hidden history of women-led slave revolts". What we do have here are breadcrumbs of information that the author managed to find, and a huge amount of her "historical imagination". In other words, she finds documents on slave executions and "historically assumes" the circumstances under which enslaved women fell upon such fate.
Second, I was very impressed by the contrast between the way the author describes the world around her and her actual life. According to Hall's descriptions, the world is full of evil white people who dream of ruining her life. Not allowing her in the archive? Because they are racists. Didn't submit the documents she demanded immediately? Because they are trying to hide the crimes of their white ancestors. Forbade her to carry a computer into a guarded building? Precisely because of the color of her skin, what other reason can there be. Whilst she flew halfway around the world for these documents!
The only "good white" person in the book is Hall's wife.
That is, let's summarize: Rebecca Hall has a white wife with whom she raises a child, lives in California, has a profession of her choice and an opportunity to quit her job and travel the world in order to rummage through various archives. It sounds like a very comfortable and I would dare say a privileged life not every woman is able to have even now in the 21st century. However, after listening to the author, one gets the impression that she is very offended by the society and the surrounding world.
I am not black and will never know what it's like to live the life of an African American woman in this day and age. However, I am a person, I am a woman, I am a Ukrainian born in the first year of my country's independence after many centuries of bloody colonization and oppression. And yes - slavery. Even today I live in a war. So yes. I'm not black. But I dare to assume that I have some understanding of the words "oppression", "discrimination", "historical memory" and "wake".
Actually, my next question is on the last one. Wake. The author constantly emphasizes that she lives in the wake after the slavery. Slavery, which was abolished about 160 years ago, after which came about eight generations (seven at the time of writing this book) of people. I understand why we can say that humanity now lives in the wake after the USSR. It's been only 30 years since its collapse, and there are still lots of people raised by the USSR around. Moreover, some of them are trying to "restore historical justice" by destroying independent Ukraine right this very moment. But talking about the wake after the slavery, when neither you nor your parents saw any of it? When you have a frankly privileged, well-arranged life? I don't understand this. Nor do I understand why the author expresses such an attitude towards today's white people in the book - as if they are still slavers in her eyes.
Finally, the last, but the most important moment, which drove the nail in the coffin of my attitude towards this book - the story of the "rebellion" of two slaves (an Indian man and a black woman), which implied that they killed their master and his entire family, including a pregnant wife and five children. From the manner of the execution, Rebecca Hall concluded that the mastermind behind this murder, excuse me, revolt, was the woman. The author is saddened to the point of tears that her name is not mentioned in the documents, and that there is almost no info about her or that incident. She calls the nameless slave a "warrior", and says that the reason of the murder indicated in the documents (offense at the master for not letting her go out) is an outright lie. I don't know if I should comment that we have no data on the veracity of this info, other than the opinion of the author. But what I definitely want to talk about is her attitude towards the person who participated in the murder of five children and a pregnant woman. This, I emphasize, is not a "warrior". Not a "rebel". This is a brutal killer. No matter what life that nameless slave led, no matter how terrible her master was, killing children and a pregnant woman does not justify it, and it will never be noble in my eyes. Crying for such a person and calling her a warrior? After reading this, I regretted opening this book in the first place.
Briefly about the printed edition of The Wake itself. In short, it is too small. This book should have been published in a bigger format, closer to A4, because the texts here are so tiny that you might actually need a magnifying glass to read them. As for the illustrations, this is a subjective moment - I can only say that I personally did not like them, because they some of them looked confusing, and the dark-skinned characters were drawn in such a way that it constantly seemed to me that they had no skin. It was creepy.
When you pick up a book on such a difficult and painful topic as slavery, you feel almost obliged to rate it highly. Because what else can you do? You don't want to seem like a callous person, and even more so - a racist. But I have no desire to flatten, I only want to call it as I see it. Just because this book is about slavery, it doesn't make it good. 2 stars from me.
А тепер українською.
Ця книга не жахлива, але вона залишила мене під дуже неприємним враженням.
По-перше, її назва оманлива - тут немає як такої «схованої історії повстань рабинь». Що тут є, так це хлібні крихти інформації, які вдалося знайти авторці, та величезна доля її «історичних допущень». Себто вона знаходить документ, де написано, що в такому-то році була страчена рабиня, і «історично зважено» (с) вигадує обставини, за якими ту спіткала така доля.
Друге - мені сильно впадав в око контраст між тим, як авторка описує світ навколо, і тим, яке життя фактично має. За описами Холл виходить, що світ переповнений злими білими людьми, які тільки і мріють, щоб псувати їй життя. Не пустили в архів? Расисти. Не одразу надали документи? Намагаються сховати злочини своїх білих пращурів. Не дозволили проносити комп'ютер в будівлю, що охороняється? Точно через колір шкіри, які ще можуть бути варіанти. А вона ж заради цих документів через півсвіту летіла!
Єдина «хороша біла» людина в книзі - дружина самої Холл.
Тобто, підсумуємо: Ребекка Холл має білу дружину, з якою виховує дитину, працює ким хоче, живе в Каліфорнії і має можливість полишити роботу і подорожувати світом заради того, щоб копирсатися в різноманітних архівах. Звучить, як дуже комфортне та я б навіть сказала привілейоване життя, яке тільки в 21 віці і зустрінеш. І те далеко не всюди. Однак, послухавши авторку, складається враження, ніби вона дуже ображена поведінкою навколишнього світу по відношенню до себе.
Я не темношкіра і ніколи не дізнаюся, як це - жити життя афроамериканки у наші часи. Проте, я людина, я жінка, я українка, що народилася в перший рік незалежності моєї держави після багатьох століть кривавої колонізації та утискань. І кріпацтва. Навіть сьогодні я живу в війні. Тож так. Я не темношкіра. Але наважуся припустити, що деяке розуміння слів "утиснення", "дискримінація", "історична пам'ять" та "wake" все ж маю.
Власне, моє наступне питання саме до останнього. До wake. Авторка постійно наголошує, що живе in the wake after the slavery. Рабства, яке скасували близько 160 років тому, з якого прийшло приблизно вісім поколінь (сім на момент написання цієї книжки). Я розумію, чому можна сказати, що людство зараз живе in the wake after the USSR, бо з моменту його розпаду пройшло лише 30 років, і людей, вихованих СРСР, навколо все ще дуже багато. Ба більш - деякі з них і зараз намагаються "відновити історичну справедливість", знищивши незалежну Україну. Але казати про the wake after the slavery, коли ні ти, ні твої батьки його не застали? Коли в тебе відверто привілейоване, гарно влаштоване життя? Я не розумію цього. Як і не розумію, чому авторка в книзі виражає таке ставлення до білих людей, ніби вони прямо зараз продовжують бути рабовласниками.
Нарешті, останній, але найважливіший момент, який і забив цвях в труну мого ставлення до цієї книги - історія про "повстання" двох рабів (індійського чоловіка та темношкірої жінки), яке зводилося до того, що вони вбили свого хазяїна та всю його сім'ю: вагітну жінку та п'ятьох малих дітей. З огляду на вид страти Ребекка Холл дійшла висновку, що головною у цьому вбивстві, пробачте, повстанні, була жінка. Авторку до сліз засмучує, що в документах не вказується її ім'я і що про неї та той випадок майже немає свідоцтв. Вона називає безіменну рабиню "воїтелькою", а причину вбивства, вказану в документах (образа на хазяїна за те, що не дозволив піти гуляти) - відвертою брехнею. Я не знаю, чи варто коментувати, що ми не маємо жодних даних про правдивість цієї інфи, окрім думки авторки. Але от що я точно хочу проговорити, так це її ставлення до людини, що брала участь у вбивстві п'ятьох дітей та вагітної жінки. Це, наголошую, не "воїтелька". Не "повстанка". Це - жорстока вбивця. Яке б життя та безіменна рабиня не вела, яким би страшним не був її хазяїн, вбивство дітей та вагітної це не виправдовує, і ніколи в моїх очах цей вчинок не буде шляхетним. Плакати за такою людиною та називати її воїтелькою? Прочитавши це, я пожаліла, що взагалі відкрила цю книгу.
Коротенько про фізичний аспект - саме друковане видання The Wake. Коротко кажучи, воно замале. Цю книжку треба було видавати форматом, ближчим до А4, тому що текст тут настільки малий, що його зручно читати хіба що з лупою. Що ж до ілюстрацій, то це момент на любителя - можу сказати лише, що особисто мені вони не прийшлися до душі, бо виглядали часом плутано, а темношкірі персонажі були промальовані таким чином, що мені постійно здавалося, ніби на них не було шкіри. Від цього було моторошно.
Коли береш в руки книгу на настільки тяжку та болючу тему, як рабство, то відчуваєш себе практично зобов'язаним високо її оцінити. Бо як же інакше? Ти ж не хочеш здатися черствою людиною, а то й ба більш - расисткою. Але я хочу не лестити, а називати речі своїми іменами. Тільки від того, що ця книга про рабство, вона не стає гарною чи якісною. Від мене 2 зірки.
March 29, 2024
Warning: reading this book opens you to the hauntings of history.
All of the past is still right here. It echoes in the waters of the ocean, hides in the reflections of puddles, moves right outside the edge of your vision. It's trauma, yes. But also, wrapped inside that trauma is the sustaining power of the ones who fought.
Dr. Hall has devoted her life to history so deep it feels like excavation. She's scraping through mountains of forgotten documents, pushing against the tide of institutional disapproval, to piece together the smallest shards of remaining information. Sometimes all she has is the unspoken, the gaps and absences left by lives that were considered impossible: the women who organized and fought against the people enslaving them.
While I read this book, the world morphed around me. Everything felt more tender, more terrible, and strangely more hopeful than before.
Wake is at once a compelling can't-put-it-down story, a gorgeous piece of art, and a sophisticated historical work. Dr. Hall completely shatters all the myths I was taught about slavery: that it was mostly a southern problem, mostly a rural agricultural industry. She even wades into that old battle, where conservatives claim that Africans 'enslaved themselves' and liberals pitch Africans as helpless victims to white dominance. Hall's explanation is clear, complex, and infinitely more compelling than those old tired narratives.
Dr. Hall's book taught me that every slave revolt was successful. No matter how they ended, every revolt made the system of chattel slavery more expensive, more tenuous, and the work of enslaving others more difficult. This book feels like an offering, a long-delayed act of gratitude to honor the ones who gave their lives in those revolts.
I'm so grateful for the hours and hours Dr. Hall spent in the archives, uncovering these lives. I'm grateful for Hugo Martinez for bringing them to life with this stunning art. This is the living, accessible history we need. Highly recommended to all.
All of the past is still right here. It echoes in the waters of the ocean, hides in the reflections of puddles, moves right outside the edge of your vision. It's trauma, yes. But also, wrapped inside that trauma is the sustaining power of the ones who fought.
Dr. Hall has devoted her life to history so deep it feels like excavation. She's scraping through mountains of forgotten documents, pushing against the tide of institutional disapproval, to piece together the smallest shards of remaining information. Sometimes all she has is the unspoken, the gaps and absences left by lives that were considered impossible: the women who organized and fought against the people enslaving them.
While I read this book, the world morphed around me. Everything felt more tender, more terrible, and strangely more hopeful than before.
Wake is at once a compelling can't-put-it-down story, a gorgeous piece of art, and a sophisticated historical work. Dr. Hall completely shatters all the myths I was taught about slavery: that it was mostly a southern problem, mostly a rural agricultural industry. She even wades into that old battle, where conservatives claim that Africans 'enslaved themselves' and liberals pitch Africans as helpless victims to white dominance. Hall's explanation is clear, complex, and infinitely more compelling than those old tired narratives.
Dr. Hall's book taught me that every slave revolt was successful. No matter how they ended, every revolt made the system of chattel slavery more expensive, more tenuous, and the work of enslaving others more difficult. This book feels like an offering, a long-delayed act of gratitude to honor the ones who gave their lives in those revolts.
I'm so grateful for the hours and hours Dr. Hall spent in the archives, uncovering these lives. I'm grateful for Hugo Martinez for bringing them to life with this stunning art. This is the living, accessible history we need. Highly recommended to all.
July 24, 2021
Wake is a graphic memoir about Rebecca Hall's research into slave revolts led by women. It's a difficult story to tell. Both because of the awful subject manner and the lack of records from that time. That's where I think the book goes off track in places. I don't really care about sifting through these records with Dr. Hall. It's tedious to read about and full of passages of antiquated English. The only interesting bits are when she was held up by institutions that didn't want these stories out there like Lloyds of London.
I didn't find Hugo Martinez's art very strong. I did like his imagery of the past in reflections in windows or puddles. But the artwork itself was almost too detailed to the point where little stands out. His facial fetures and body proportions could use some work as well.
Overall, it's a powerful book of the kinds of stories that need to be told, that people should be aware of.
Received a review copy from Simon and Schuster and NetGalley.
I didn't find Hugo Martinez's art very strong. I did like his imagery of the past in reflections in windows or puddles. But the artwork itself was almost too detailed to the point where little stands out. His facial fetures and body proportions could use some work as well.
Overall, it's a powerful book of the kinds of stories that need to be told, that people should be aware of.
Received a review copy from Simon and Schuster and NetGalley.
November 4, 2021
This book is misleading and problematic. The title leads one to believe they are about to read about several “women-led slave revolts�. But what you’re actually reading is about Rebecca Hall’s research.
The information Hall does find is very, very tiny and then Hall (in her own words) uses, “historical imagination in order to reconstruct a story�. This story then becomes pure speculation, I.e Fiction.
The images drawn depict every white person as ignorant, rude, and hateful, except for the authors wife.
Please read this one with caution.
The information Hall does find is very, very tiny and then Hall (in her own words) uses, “historical imagination in order to reconstruct a story�. This story then becomes pure speculation, I.e Fiction.
The images drawn depict every white person as ignorant, rude, and hateful, except for the authors wife.
Please read this one with caution.
February 23, 2021
This book needs to be in every school library. Not only was the art phenomenal throughout the graphic novel but the way that story wove between the research of Rebecca and the historical images and tellings that were being showed throughout this. This tackles how we need to acknowledge history rather than ignoring it. I would recommend this to everyone but especially young people. Thank you so much Netgalley and Simon and Schuster for allowing me to read and review this ARC!
September 23, 2021
Rebecca Hall creates a vibrant and fascinating mix of memoir, history, historiography, and historical fiction as she explores the present day for clues to women-led slave revolts in the 18th century, worrying tidbits out of dusty archives protected by uncooperative white men, and -- like a paleontologist imagining an entire dinosaur from a few small bones -- conjecturing why and how the revolts might have actually happened, bringing to life women whose very names have been lost to history.
The art is a little rougher than I prefer, but the story is masterfully polished and I could not bring myself to stop reading until I had finished.
The art is a little rougher than I prefer, but the story is masterfully polished and I could not bring myself to stop reading until I had finished.
March 16, 2023
Dr. Rebecca Hall tells us what is known from the primary sources about slave rebellions and the involvement of slave women in such revolts. Along the way, she shows us the work of the historian; letters, bills of sale, archaic law, locked and lost archives, paper records housed on several continents. She also speaks as a storyteller and as a person living in the "wake" of this unseen undercurrent of American and World history opening our eyes to our own history.
The artwork of this graphic novel is black and white, rippling with shadows of things unseen and unknowable - like the history it illustrates.
Four different quests into the archives and memory are recorded. The standout for me was the story of the "Negro Fiend". Rebecca Hall has found the three or four sentences recording her existence in this world and there she stands - bright and visible as a figure from Euripides or a female image of Biblical Nemesis waiting by the side of the road. She deserves her place and her space in the story that has erased her name.
The artwork of this graphic novel is black and white, rippling with shadows of things unseen and unknowable - like the history it illustrates.
Four different quests into the archives and memory are recorded. The standout for me was the story of the "Negro Fiend". Rebecca Hall has found the three or four sentences recording her existence in this world and there she stands - bright and visible as a figure from Euripides or a female image of Biblical Nemesis waiting by the side of the road. She deserves her place and her space in the story that has erased her name.
July 10, 2021
Rebecca Hall is a lawyer and historian. Wake is the result of many years of research looking into the history of female slave revolts.
I love that this is also telling her story. It gives the reader insight into the research process and all of the obstacles that Dr. Hall faced while conducting her research like being denied access to archives despite her credentials. Or when she would find historical records that referenced a female revolutionary, the woman was either unnamed or her words were not recorded.
In a world where we relish in providing receipts history proves that for Black women the details were never recorded. There were no receipts given.
There is evidence of how Black women were dehumanized. One woman was sentenced to be executed after leading a revolt that led to the deaths of several whites. Her sentence was stayed because she was pregnant. Not out of compassion but because the child was someone's property.
One of the most interesting facts that Hall comes across is the finding that a slave revolt was more likely to to occur if there were more women aboard the slave ship. You read that right. More women = a higher incidence of mutiny.
Hugo Martinez's drawings encapsulate action and emotion. There are pages throughout with little to no words but you still feel the story. They are dynamic and haunting.
I love that this is also telling her story. It gives the reader insight into the research process and all of the obstacles that Dr. Hall faced while conducting her research like being denied access to archives despite her credentials. Or when she would find historical records that referenced a female revolutionary, the woman was either unnamed or her words were not recorded.
"This is one way that history erases us. What we had to say was not even considered important enough to record. You think you are reading an accurate chronicle written at the time but if who we are and what we care about are deemed irrelevant it won't be in there."
In a world where we relish in providing receipts history proves that for Black women the details were never recorded. There were no receipts given.
There is evidence of how Black women were dehumanized. One woman was sentenced to be executed after leading a revolt that led to the deaths of several whites. Her sentence was stayed because she was pregnant. Not out of compassion but because the child was someone's property.
One of the most interesting facts that Hall comes across is the finding that a slave revolt was more likely to to occur if there were more women aboard the slave ship. You read that right. More women = a higher incidence of mutiny.
Hugo Martinez's drawings encapsulate action and emotion. There are pages throughout with little to no words but you still feel the story. They are dynamic and haunting.
January 17, 2021
Wake is part memoir and part historical events. Rebecca Hall is a professor doing research on women leading slave revolts. It depicts her struggles and road blocks in trying to find this information whether security is preventing her from going into the archives to find the truth or because past historians didn't deem some things as necessary to write down. I think putting this type of content in a graphic novel is great because it's easy to read through and you still learn from it. I actually learned a lot from this novel, It's full of a lot of emotion from tears and rage as we learn about the women fighting for their lives. I think this is an important graphic novel and would definitely recommend people to check this one out.
Thank you to Netgalley and to the publisher for the arc in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you to Netgalley and to the publisher for the arc in exchange for an honest review.
November 5, 2022
History written by the victors always erases resistance. And those of us who live in the wake/ruins learn that we were inferior and needed to be conquered and enslaved. This is the afterlife of slavery that the victors need us to inhabit. One in which we have always already lost and have accepted our fate as handed to us.
Be still my heart: a graphic novel treatment of archival research, with a side of law! Rebecca Hall herself is front and centre in this narrative, which focuses on her own research efforts to uncover women’s resistance to slavery. She looks at historical court records in New York, she visits London to search out the records from slave ships at the hear of the empire (and tries to look at Lloyd’s of London’s private archive, for they insured these ships, but she is turned away), she looks at quantitative research that shows that 1 in 10 slave ships departing Africa experienced an uprising - and that uprisings were more likely on ships carrying women, and she finally engages in an act of imagination to try to fill in the many frustrating gaps in the historical record. Along the way, she also explores her own family history, in which her grandmother, a former slave, was the beachhead in the family’s participation in the Great Migration, pushed out of Nevada to Chicago by racism.
There’s so much here. And the illustrations were creative and enhanced the project: I loved the way that glimpses of history appeared in contemporary scenes, reflected in puddles or windows, just out of sight. I’m always glad to see an academic find an effective and interesting way to broaden the reach of their important work beyond academia. The final result here is both moving/heartbreaking and exciting.
Be still my heart: a graphic novel treatment of archival research, with a side of law! Rebecca Hall herself is front and centre in this narrative, which focuses on her own research efforts to uncover women’s resistance to slavery. She looks at historical court records in New York, she visits London to search out the records from slave ships at the hear of the empire (and tries to look at Lloyd’s of London’s private archive, for they insured these ships, but she is turned away), she looks at quantitative research that shows that 1 in 10 slave ships departing Africa experienced an uprising - and that uprisings were more likely on ships carrying women, and she finally engages in an act of imagination to try to fill in the many frustrating gaps in the historical record. Along the way, she also explores her own family history, in which her grandmother, a former slave, was the beachhead in the family’s participation in the Great Migration, pushed out of Nevada to Chicago by racism.
There’s so much here. And the illustrations were creative and enhanced the project: I loved the way that glimpses of history appeared in contemporary scenes, reflected in puddles or windows, just out of sight. I’m always glad to see an academic find an effective and interesting way to broaden the reach of their important work beyond academia. The final result here is both moving/heartbreaking and exciting.
March 25, 2022
I expected to like this because I am enjoy graphic nonfiction and thought that this would be an interesting topic -- and one that isn't often discussed. My expectations were fairly high but this totally exceeded them.
This isn't just the story of a few revolts, it is also the author's story of being a Black woman historian studying this legacy. She does not shy away from the real issues that she faced trying to study this. She talks about the barriers to archives because of misogynoir at the time (men not recording details about women) and as it lives on today (being demeaned or even refused entry to some archives). She also goes into some of the weight of learning about such tremendous violence and loss that is a part of her history.
Throughout, she also shares the story of several women throughout history. She shares the story of women leading several revolts in the colonies as well as on the slave ships. She also discusses her connection to her ancestors, even sharing her grandmother’s story of resilience. Some instances where there are no details beyond the acknowledgement that an attempt at revolt was made, she gave some of these women a story. She wraps up the book talking about ancestor and the presence of history.
This was such a powerful book!
This isn't just the story of a few revolts, it is also the author's story of being a Black woman historian studying this legacy. She does not shy away from the real issues that she faced trying to study this. She talks about the barriers to archives because of misogynoir at the time (men not recording details about women) and as it lives on today (being demeaned or even refused entry to some archives). She also goes into some of the weight of learning about such tremendous violence and loss that is a part of her history.
Throughout, she also shares the story of several women throughout history. She shares the story of women leading several revolts in the colonies as well as on the slave ships. She also discusses her connection to her ancestors, even sharing her grandmother’s story of resilience. Some instances where there are no details beyond the acknowledgement that an attempt at revolt was made, she gave some of these women a story. She wraps up the book talking about ancestor and the presence of history.
This was such a powerful book!
June 14, 2021
Rebecca Hall is a lawyer and a history professor who ended up going down a rabbit hole while researching one of her cases. She became fascinated with women who led slave revolts in New York. These women were mentioned in some documents but there wasn't much detail. Hall started to dig through various sources to try to find more information on particular women who were involved. This graphic novel tells the story of Rebecca's work and also the story of the women who she discovered in her research. It really highlights how the stories of slaves themselves, particularly female slaves have often been erased. What is left is the story of the oppressor who often left the details of female slaves as side notes, if that. This is a great read for history buffs and those who want to read more #ownvoices stories about slavery.
Thank you to the publisher for the review copy!
Thank you to the publisher for the review copy!
June 29, 2021
Another great example of the subjects that the graphic novel format can tackle. I loved the way this book was structured—the true story of a historian doing research into an often overlooked part of the U.S. and Britain’s ugly involvement in the slave trade. As Hall delves further into the dusty archives, situations come alive for her and affect her deeply. I especially liked the artwork that would depict the unacknowledged history of everyday places and things.
August 4, 2021
Mixing personal history with global events, Rebecca really knows how to tell stories and convey the truth about erasure in history.
My only downgrade was that I didn’t absolutely love the graphics - but I did like them.
My only downgrade was that I didn’t absolutely love the graphics - but I did like them.
April 7, 2025
So much in this book: the author's history (granddaughter of a slave), the author's struggle (a black woman trying to access slave records in places around the world and being denied), American history no one has uncovered fully, not even our dogged author.
I really enjoyed this novel, if enjoy can be sympathized, wanted more, needed more, and wanted to shout in horror every time Dr. Hall was turned away from a vital knowledge source.
When is book 2 coming out
#americanhistory #slaveancestry #blackhistory #americanshame #maga #blm
I really enjoyed this novel, if enjoy can be sympathized, wanted more, needed more, and wanted to shout in horror every time Dr. Hall was turned away from a vital knowledge source.
When is book 2 coming out
#americanhistory #slaveancestry #blackhistory #americanshame #maga #blm
October 27, 2021
My only complaint, if we can call it that, about this slim book is that I wish it was longer! This is one of those works where the book's form enacts its content in a literal sense, a concept I really appreciate when done as well as it is here. Hugo Martinez's art possesses a density that many times compelled me to stop and contemplate what I was really looking at. A soothing cup of tea with sugar in London, or the hard legacy of imperialism? A run-of-the-mill hardware store in New York City, or the scene of a deadly 1712 slave revolt? The answer is both, evinced by Martinez's art, in which he embeds illustrations of the past directly into the present. This contributes to a sense of underneath-ness that persists throughout Wake, as in I felt as if I was being offered a generous glimpse beneath not only the stories of enslavement that we typically learn, but also a glimpse underneath how these stories emerge, if they do at all. Unsurprisingly, the archives of enslavement and its revolts are studded with gaps, which complicate Rebecca Hall's endeavors to bring these stories to the page (another hindrance is the casual racism she encounters at libraries and clerk offices along the way), but she widens the angle of the story and invites speculation. She infuses what facts she finds with ruminations on what may have motivated enslaved women to lead these various revolts, embodying the outline of their lives with a fullness that is often tossed aside in favor of historical accuracy. And underneath her own motivations for this kind of storytelling is an ancestral tether—a chorus of voices underneath her own, speaking survival across centuries.
June 11, 2021
The title led me down a misleading path. I thought it was about the female roles in slave revolts (that have clearly been ignored, deleted, or deemed inconsequential). This book was just as much about the frustrating, roadblocking hurdles Hall encounters doing her research as the stories themselves. And I thought I'd get more in-depth stories than I got. The illustrations were super cool, especially when the past was offered in reflections of windows, puddles, etc to remind us that the effects are ever-present. In truth, my final response was: that's all? I want so much more. My interest was piqued, but not satiated. Now, where do I find more of these stories? Or is it a sad fact that they simply don't exist?
3.5 rounded up.
3.5 rounded up.
May 31, 2022
Sadly, my previous review was deleted by accident.
But read this book, read this book, READ this book!!!
But read this book, read this book, READ this book!!!
March 24, 2021
There are few books that can accomplish the formidable task of uncovering real history through imagination and personal story. Butler's Kindred and Morrison's Beloved are obvious comparisons in this regard. But Hall's incredible book can't really be compared to anything.
From the gorgeous and haunting illustrations to the heart-wrenching uses of afro-futurist imagination, this book is its own journey unlike any other. I was left with tears in my eyes and some important historical knowledge in my brain. I wish I'd read this in high school. I wish everyone had read it in high school.
Honestly, I've never really gone in for graphic novels, but this is the perfect format for this story. The visceral illustrations and clever orchestration made the history come through clearly and powerfully. I could feel the stories washing over me as I read and I couldn't help but feel grief, anger, and inspiration.
We are all living in the wake of slavery, and this novel can help us understand what that means and how we can move forward.
From the gorgeous and haunting illustrations to the heart-wrenching uses of afro-futurist imagination, this book is its own journey unlike any other. I was left with tears in my eyes and some important historical knowledge in my brain. I wish I'd read this in high school. I wish everyone had read it in high school.
Honestly, I've never really gone in for graphic novels, but this is the perfect format for this story. The visceral illustrations and clever orchestration made the history come through clearly and powerfully. I could feel the stories washing over me as I read and I couldn't help but feel grief, anger, and inspiration.
We are all living in the wake of slavery, and this novel can help us understand what that means and how we can move forward.
January 17, 2021
This book needs to be in every school library. Not only was the art phenomenal throughout the graphic novel but the way that story wove between the research of Rebecca and the historical images and tellings that were being showed throughout this. This tackles how we need to acknowledge history rather than ignoring it. I would recommend this to everyone but especially young people. Thank you so much Netgalley and Simon and Schuster for allowing me to read and review this ARC!
March 3, 2022
"Our memories must be longer than our lifetimes."
February 29, 2024
Graphic books are not my thing, and to be honest, even most comic books aren't since I'm not a fan of the art styles--even when I was a child I only liked certain ones (not that I was allowed to own them since my dad deemed books better.)
What I love about this is that finally someone has dug deep to find evidence of women led slave revolts. Yes, it took a black woman, granddaughter of slaves (yes, there are still some alive today!) to work on this and think of it. Women are overlooked this way in general, and of course slave women even more so. Records don't say much, so a few times she openly said she was imagining how things happened. But the most obvious one, which came as a surprise to her as well, was the women led ones on slave ships (once again, women were overlooked and they "entertained" the sailors along with a few young boys.) You'll have to read the book for some some amazing, well documented information on that.
What I love about this is that finally someone has dug deep to find evidence of women led slave revolts. Yes, it took a black woman, granddaughter of slaves (yes, there are still some alive today!) to work on this and think of it. Women are overlooked this way in general, and of course slave women even more so. Records don't say much, so a few times she openly said she was imagining how things happened. But the most obvious one, which came as a surprise to her as well, was the women led ones on slave ships (once again, women were overlooked and they "entertained" the sailors along with a few young boys.) You'll have to read the book for some some amazing, well documented information on that.
July 15, 2024
Review to come. Thank you Simon Books for the gifted copy 🩷
September 4, 2022
This should be required reading in schools.
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