Black Rebellion at Sea: The Blueprint for Reparations

Black Rebellion at Sea does not bury our resistance in footnotes, it resurrects it. From the dark belly of the Tecora to the courtroom of La Amistad, this work proves that our people turned iron into fire. That the ocean that drowned millions now bears witness. And that today’s descendants, armed with archives, DNA, and righteous law, hold the standing claim that freedom was stolen, wealth was stolen, and it is time to collect the debt. This revolutionary book resurrects the untold legacy of shipboard slave rebellions, not as scattered events, but as a strategic legacy of resistance that laid the groundwork for the modern reparations movement. Each chapter is a deeply researched case study, merging SlaveVoyages.org data, legal records, and oral histories to show how Black rebellion at sea created legal precedents still relevant today. From Cinqué’s victory in La Amistad, to the smuggled names of El Nuevo Constante survivors, these revolts are not just historical moments. They are legal exhibits. This book equips the reader with modern tools to file reparations claims, trace DNA lineages, and organize global movements rooted in the earliest Black battles for freedom, on water, not land.