Becca De Los Santos | Honors Research - "Resistance to Slavery in Africa: Past and Present” conference (University of London SOAS)
On October 23-24, 2023, I attended “Resistance to Slavery in Africa: Past and Present” conference organized by the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). At this conference, I represented the Senegal Liberations Project, led by Stanford History Professor Richard Roberts, and presented our paper, “Runaway Enslaved Families in Senegal: Mothers, Children, Resistance, and Vulnerabilities (1867-1903).” My panel included three other scholars who also discussed the historical documentation of liberated Africans.
The conference introduced me to ongoing research in regions outside of my work. Presentations touched on Tanzania, Angola, South Africa, Sierra Leone, the Sudan, the Red Sea region, and more. In addition, much of this research is groundbreaking: Archeologists are looking into the Angolares, a minority maroon community in São Tomé and Principe. Others are undertaking the demanding work of oral interviews, trying to recover and extract histories that would rather not be shared. Some scholars are creating databases of over 700,000 liberated Africans.
While the presentations and papers introduced me to the breadth and depth of African history and research on slavery, I found that my conversations with scholars were the most fruitful aspects of my experience. Thanks to the fellow presenters’ expertise, generosity of time, and kindness, I was directed to potential advisors, received feedback on ideas for my doctoral project, and was encouraged. In fact, I was able to speak to a Brazilian scholar who is working on the same primary document as I am in my honors thesis. This exchange permitted me to see an alternative angle that I had not yet considered and that I will now be incorporating into my analysis.
I am also thankful for the opportunity to have presented in front of others and sat on a panel with scholars that I look up to. Their listening ears and questions will allow the Senegal Liberations Project team to refine how we look at our primary source. Transcription of colonial documents is no easy feat. And the feedback that we received challenged us even more to read against the grain.
Once again, thank you to the History department for supporting student research! My academic career has been greatly impacted by the support and generosity of the department, and I will look back upon this conference (my first one ever) fondly.
