About this Event
In the tradition of Shadow Divers and The Wager, the incredible story of the pirate slave ship Guerrero, which wrecked in the Florida Keys, and the scuba divers who tracked it down nearly two hundred years later.
In 1827, the brig Guerrero was racing across the Florida Straits with 561 kidnapped Africans in its hold. Though Britain and the United States had banned the Atlantic slave trade, outlaw captains like José Gomez attempted to get around their Navy patrols and make for Cuba, where markets remained open. Gomez was particularly ruthless, not only a trader but also a pirate who stole captives from other vessels.
When a Black diver and Vietnam veteran named Ken Stewart learned in 2004 that the Guerrero might still be in American waters, he marshalled a group he called Diving with a Purpose to go looking for it. In partnership with Corey Malcom—a marine archeologist whose affiliation with a famous Floridian treasure hunter made some initially wary of his motives—the group began to recover the buried tale of the Guerrero and its survivors. The saga involved President John Quincy Adams, an African princess turned American slaveholder, and the founders of Liberia.
Ocean of Bones is about two connected journeys: one in the 19th century, and one in the 21st. It is a powerful and thrilling book, illuminating a forgotten history, connecting ancestors and descendants across centuries and oceans, and reminding us of lessons of the past that must be kept alive in the present.
David Kushner is an award-winning journalist and author. His books include Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture; Levittown: Two Families, One Tycoon, and the Fight for Civil Rights in America’s Legendary Suburb; and Alligator Candy: A Memoir. He has written for Rolling Stone, The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, Outside, and other publications. His work has been adapted into award-winning films (Zola and Silk Road), podcasts (Alligator Candy and Cold Truth), and docuseries (The Battle for Justina Pelletier). He is the Ferris Professor of Journalism at Princeton University and lives in New Jersey.
Dr. Hillary M. Van Dyke is a Florida native. She earned her bachelor’s at Purdue University and obtained a master’s degree in educational leadership from the University of South Florida- St Petersburg. After graduating, she worked as a district administrator for Pinellas County Schools. During this work, she was inspired to pursue her doctoral degree at the University of South Florida. In May 2024, she graduated with her PhD in education. In August 2024, she started a role as a visiting professor of education at the University of Tampa. She is now an assistant professor at the University of Tampa. While education is her first love, Dr. Van Dyke has a fondness for community work which includes her volunteerism and independent contracting efforts. The following are just a small part of that list. She co-founded the Green Book of Tampa Bay in 2019 with her friend Joshua Bean. Since 2016, she has been involved in work to get Black people more involved in the outdoors from leading events to her filmmaking.
Event venue & nearby stays
Oxford Exchange, 420 W. Kennedy Blvd., Tampa, United States
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