The DuSable Museum in Washington Park offers a variety of artwork that showcases and celebrates African American history. One of those exhibits includes the Equiano exhibit.
Olaudah Equiano was said to be one of the biggest influencers of his time. He learned how to read and write at the time it was forbidden for people of his skin color. During his time as a slave he also learned how to trade as a merchant, so that he could quietly make some money. Doing so is what earned him his freedom.
Equiano then traveled to England and became an abolitionist. His work to free slaves became widely known, and in 1788, he even wrote a letter to the Queen of England with a demand to end slavery.
About a year later, Equiano shocked the world by releasing a book going against slavery. In the book he brought to light the details of his enslavement as a child and adult. He also wrote about his childhood back in his home village, offering a rare account of what life was like in West Africa at this time.
Known to be cheated many times in his life and trusting to no one but himself, he made the decision to self-publish and keep rights all to himself. Then to finance the book he called upon wealthy businessmen, lawyers, intellectuals, politicians, clerics and even members of the royal family – and they followed him. The book was a massive hit and was quickly sold globally. Equiano then took off on a promotional tour that took him all around the world. This allowed him to use every platform he could use to fight against slavery.
The book itself was so powerful that it played an important role in getting England – the biggest nation at the time behind the trade – to end its enslavement of African people.
The Equiano exhibit acts like an autobiography for Equiano’s life and community. It does this while also reimagining his historic childhood saga through Instagram stories. The museum installed this social media type exhibit, offering a question to visitors who engage: “What if an African child in 1756 had Instagram when he was enslaved?”
