What the Sea Has Seen by Karen Viola

Like too many other white people I grew up blind to my own privilege with a white-washed, grossly incomplete history education and with much of the horrors of white supremacy culture and structural racism unseen. Until now. This book offers a graphic synthesis of my self-guided study of chattel slavery and the Atlantic slave trade. It is an interactive timeline that displays total numbers of enslaved Africans embarked on ships, inspired by the data presented at the public database slavevoyages.org. Each 50-year vessel card is but a tip of a historical iceberg, summarizing a chronological selection of events from a Western perspective, focusing on the impact of colonization. The fabric of the book is made with responsibly-sourced, organic cotton and natural indigo. White cotton gloves dipped in indigo and red paint are provided for further visceral contemplation, asking readers to consider the ‘blood on their hands.’