All those words from the seller, but not one word from the sold.
-- Zora Neale Hurston (Introduction paragraph 2)

Importance: This quote from Hurston’s introduction serves as a succinct thesis for her project with Kossula. She designed the format of her book – a long series of conversations with Kossula, heavy on his own words without interruption or analysis – as a direct response to the ways in which history is often written “from above,” or by the victors in historical conflicts. This single line makes clear the deficit of literature composed by those who are most qualified to testify to the evils and vicissitudes of slavery, and Hurston’s intention to use her skills as a writer and attentive listener to create the kind of testimonial she sees as necessary.

My name, is not Cudjo Lewis. It Kossula.
-- Kossula (chapter 1 paragraph 6)

Importance: While Kossula endured a great many abuses in his transition from a free man in Africa to...