Prince Among Slaves

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Patricia Ann Owens, Wabash Valley College, Mt. Carmel, IL -- School Library Journal, 7/10/2008

Prince Among Slaves. DVD. approx. 1 hr. Prod. by Unity Production Foundation. Dist. by PBS Home Video (shoppbs.org). 2007. ISBN 0-7936-9418-3. $24.99. 

Gr 7 Up–Abdul Rahman was a well-educated, Muslim African prince who was captured by slave traders and ended up on a small farm near Natchez, Mississippi. Using recreated scenes, historical illustrations, and on-camera commentary by a variety of historians, this amazing, albeit true, story traces the life of the slave named Prince who conformed to life in bondage yet held true to his religious beliefs and never gave up his desire to return to his homeland in Africa. It is also the story of the lucrative cotton economy; the horrors of slavery; the politics of John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay, and Andrew Jackson; and the work of the American Colonization Society and the African Masonic Lodge. Abdul Rahman’s chance encounter with Dr. John Cox, a man who had known Rahman in Africa, prompted his fight for freedom. At age 60, Rahman was released by his owner with the understanding that he would go back to Africa, not live as a free man in the United States. Unsuccessful in their attempt to raise money to purchase their children, Rahman and his wife sailed for Liberia in 1829. Rahman died four months later. Outstanding special features include a historical overview of slavery and the legacy of Muslims in slavery. This program, narrated by rapper Mos Def, offers a story, new to most students, that will find wide appeal in history classes.