Voices on Trial: The Transcripts of Atlantic Slavery

Voices on Trial: The Transcripts of Atlantic Slavery by J. N. Nartey What if history could speak for itself? Voices on Trial is a groundbreaking narrative that places the Atlantic slave trade in the witness box and lets its silenced voices testify. Drawing from ship logs, court cases, petitions, oral testimonies, slave narratives, and abolitionist writings, this book reconstructs the human story behind the statistics—turning cold documents into living transcripts of survival, pain, resistance, and resilience. Structured like a courtroom drama, each chapter presents evidence through the eyes of the captured, the enslaved, the traders, the rebels, and the descendants who still carry the memory in their bones. From the cries of mothers torn from their children, to the chilling defense of merchants in parliament, to the whispered songs of maroon rebels, these voices together place the Atlantic world on trial before the conscience of humanity. More than a history, this is an act of remembrance and reckoning. It calls the reader to listen, to witness, and to take their place in the jury of history—where the verdict is still unfolding in today's struggles with race, justice, and freedom.