S9E5 - Archival Irruptions: Moravians, Obeah, and Hidden Caribbean Histories
Published: July 5, 2026
Duration: 51:23
What can archives tell us about the lives of enslaved Africans—and what have they left unsaid?
In this compelling episode of Dis A Fi Mi History Podcast, host Wendy Aris welcomes Associate Professor Kathrine Gerbner to discuss her groundbreaking new book, Archival Irruptions. Together, they explore how Caribbean archives, missionary records, and colonial documents both reveal and conceal the religious lives, resilience, and agency of enslaved Africans in eighteenth-century Jamaica.
The conversation examines the Moravian Church's mission in Jamaica, the criminalization of Obeah (Obia) following Tacky's Revolt of 1760, and the complex relationship between Christianity, Af...