The documentary series "Free at Last" investigates the unexplored history of black and African resistance to slavery. Network Africa highlights the contribution of Jamaica's Maroons.

What were the acts of rebellion and sacrifice that brought the slave trade to an end? Who were the heroes of the story?



The trade in humans from one continent to another lasted for more than 300 years. How was this possible?

Resistence was one way of surviving the sheer brutality of slavery. What were the boundaries of rebellion? And what covert strategies were used?

Part one of the series looks at African complicity, the barbaric violence and the riches at stake.

 Listen to part one




What were the stages on the road to abolition and emancipation?

Greater enlightenment, economic disincentives and black people themselves all made a contribution.

Part two looks at the underlying causes that brought about a demise to the lucrative enterprise of slavery.

 Listen to part two



At the time of the abolition of the Atlantic slave trade in 1807 one's African roots were not something to be proud of.

Civil rights activists such as Marcus Garvey changed that.

In a speech in 1937 he told his black audience: "We are going to emancipate ourselves from mental slavery because whilst others might free the body, none but ourselves can free the mind."

Part three explores the diaspora's reconnection with Africa.

 Listen to part three

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At the time of the slave trade, Jamaica in the West Indies was one of the world's most important sugar producers and 100,000s of Africans were forced to work the plantations for 300 years.

Two hundred years on Jamaicans are looking back at the role their ancestors played in freeing themselves from enslavement.

Clive Myrie brings us the story for Network Africa.

 Listen to the story of Jamaica's Maroons