The African scuba divers rewriting the slave trade narrative

For so long the story of the slave trade has come from the settlers, Rachel Chason meets the people trying to change that

Grace Grodje, a doctoral student in maritime archaeology, gargles to clear her mouth after a morning dive (The Washington Post by Guy Peterson)

The scuba divers march through the cobblestone streets of one of the world’s most infamous former slave ports, carrying tape measures, clipboards and fins.

There is a Senegalese police officer who’d learned to dive the month before, a more seasoned diver from Benin, the only doctoral student studying maritime archaeology in Ivory Coast. They are all headed to the ocean, on a mission.

The team, walking toward its final dive, have been exploring what researchers believe are the wrecks of slave ships, as part of an inaugural programme supported by the Smithsonian Institution in Washington. For the Smithsonian, the effort this autumn follows moves in recent years to address its complicated history with racism and exploitation. For the divers, it marks an opportunity to pursue maritime archaeology focused not on treasure but understanding.