In 1931, a elderly Black woman embarked on a 24km journey from her home in Alabama to seek justice. Matilda McCrear, the last survivor of a slave ship that arrived in America in 1859, had a harrowing past that began in West Africa. Captured by troops of the Kingdom of Dahomey at the age of two, along with her mother and sisters, she was sold to a Canadian captain and transported on the infamous Clotilda ship to Alabama, where she was forced into slavery. After the Civil War ended in 1865, Matilda and her family were freed, but faced challenges in their new life. Matilda’s story is a testament to the resilience and strength of those who endured the horrors of slavery and fought for their freedom.
