Africatown Redevelopment Corporation Board of Directors Appointed

The board of directors for the Africatown Redevelopment Corporation (ARC) has been officially appointed, Alabama House Representative Adline C. Clarke announced on October 6, 2021, in Mobile.

The ARC board was established to preserve and revitalize Africatown, the historic community north of downtown Mobile founded by survivors of the Clotilda, the last known slave ship to bring Africans to the United States.

The creation of the corporation and its board marks a significant step in formalizing efforts to guide Africatown’s future. The community has drawn growing national and international attention since the wreck of the Clotilda was confirmed in the Mobile River in 2019.

Preservation advocates and descendants of the Clotilda’s passengers have long called for coordinated investment in the neighborhood’s infrastructure, housing, and cultural sites. The ARC board is expected to serve as a central body for planning and directing those revitalization efforts.

The appointment was announced through a press release from the Alabama House of Representatives, underscoring the state-level support for Africatown’s redevelopment.

The history of Africatown

The Clotilda arrived at Mobile in 1860, more than five decades after Congress banned the importation of enslaved people in 1808. The ship was burned and scuttled to hide evidence of the illegal voyage. After emancipation, a group of the Africans it carried pooled their resources to buy land north of Mobile and founded the community that became Africatown. One of its founders, Cudjo Lewis, whose African name was Kossola, lived until 1935 and was among the last known survivors of the transatlantic slave trade.