The Dahomey Amazons: West Africa's All-Female Army

The Middle Passage Food: Cuisine of Survival

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the often-overlooked culinary history of the Middle Passage — what enslaved Africans ate during their forced journey across the Atlantic, and how those provisions shaped survival, rebellion, and diaspora food cultures. They focus on the specific foods prescribed by 18th-century slave ship regulations: the Dolben Act of 1788 and subsequent laws that mandated rations like rice, yams, beans, and dried fish. Lucas explains how these items were chosen for nutritional and economic reasons, but also how the monotony and scarcity of food led to malnutrition, disease, and resistance. The conversation dives into the role of yams from West Africa, the introduction of cassava from Brazil, and the surprising fact that some ship captains deliberately reduced rations to increase profits. Lucas connects this to the broader story of how African food traditions — like okra, black-eyed peas, and palm oil — later merged with New World ingredients to create iconic dishes in the Caribbean, Brazil, and the American South. The episode ends with a reflection on food as a form of cultural memory and defiance. #History #FexingoHistory #MiddlePassage #SlaveShipFood #DolbenAct #CuisineOfSurvival #SlaveTrade #Yams #Cassava #Okra #BlackEyedPeas #PalmOil #AfricanDiaspora #FoodHistory #Resistance #SierraLeone #BightOfBenin #AtlanticWorld Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

The African Muslim Rebellion That Shook Brazil

In 1835, enslaved Muslims in Salvador, Brazil, rose up in one of the most audacious urban revolts in the Americas. Known as the Malê Revolt, it was led by Hausa and Yoruba men who wrote their plans in Arabic script, coordinated through prayer networks, and fought with religious conviction. This episode explores how the transatlantic slave trade brought Islam to Bahia, how enslaved Africans maintained their faith under bondage, and how the revolt's brutal suppression reshaped Brazilian society. We follow the revolt from its planning in the homes of Alufás (Muslim teachers) to the street battles in the city center, and examine why the rebels saw themselves as mujahideen fighting a holy war. Along the way, we confront a lesser-known chapter of the slave trade: the Muslim diaspora that challenged both slaveholders and colonial authorities. #MaleRevolt #Brazil #Salvador #Bahia #Hausa #Yoruba #Alufa #Islam #AtlanticSlaveTrade #SlaveRevolt #MuslimDiaspora #1835 #History #FexingoHistory #BightOfBenin #Jeje #Nago #Resistance Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

The Dahomey Amazons: West Africa's All-Female Army

Before the kingdom of Dahomey fell to French colonialism, its army included a corps of several thousand women soldiers — the Agooji, or Dahomey Amazons. This episode traces their origins in the 17th century under King Houegbadja, their evolution into elite shock troops under King Ghezo, and their final stand against French artillery in 1892. We explore how they were recruited, trained, and armed, how they lived in the royal palace, and how European visitors like Sir Richard Burton and John Duncan described them with a mix of awe and horror. We also confront the uncomfortable truth that these warrior women fought to defend a kingdom that thrived on the slave trade — and were themselves used as slave catchers. Their story is one of extraordinary courage tangled in a deeply violent system. Featuring the military tactics of King Ghezo, the fortress of Abomey, and the French commander Alfred Dodds. #DahomeyAmazons #Agooji #WestAfrica #KingGhezo #KingdomOfDahomey #Benin #Abomey #AlfredDodds #FemaleWarriors #SlaveTrade #FrenchColonialism #19thCentury #MilitaryHistory #SirRichardBurton #AfricanHistory #WomenInHistory #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

The Indian Ocean Slave Trade: East Africa's Forgotten Diaspora

We often think of the Atlantic when we hear 'slave trade,' but for centuries before and after, a vast network moved enslaved people from East Africa across the Indian Ocean to Arabia, Persia, and India. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the scale, the routes, and the human cost of the East African slave trade — from the Swahili Coast to the markets of Zanzibar. They discuss the Omani Empire's role, the Portuguese disruption, the notorious slave market at Stone Town, and the British abolition efforts that officially outlawed the trade in the early 1800s but did little to stop it. The conversation also touches on a remarkable resistance figure: the Mijikenda warrior chief who led attacks against slave caravans in the 19th century. A lesser-known story of the global slave economy, told with the specifics it deserves. #IndianOceanSlaveTrade #EastAfrica #Zanzibar #SwahiliCoast #OmaniEmpire #StoneTown #Mijikenda #SlaveTrade #Abolition #EastAfricanDiaspora #19thCentury #Africa #ArabianPeninsula #PersianGulf #SlaveMarkets #History #FexingoHistory #ForgottenHistories Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

The Saltwater Railroad: Resistance Networks from Slavery to Freedom

The story of the Saltwater Railroad—a term used to describe the covert maritime routes enslaved people took to escape bondage in the American South to freedom in the Bahamas and beyond. This episode focuses on the remarkable figure of Richard Barnard, a free Black fisherman from Charleston who risked his life piloting runaways through the treacherous waters of the Intracoastal Waterway. We explore the geography of escape: the Sea Islands, the Gulf Stream, and the British colonial outposts in the Bahamas that offered a chance at liberty after the 1818 Treaty of Ghent. Barnard's first-person account, preserved in a rare 1840s deposition, reveals the intricate logistics: hiding refugees under fishing nets, navigating by night, and the coded language of the maritime underground. We also examine the legal limbo of 'freedom by water' after the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, and the quiet complicity of Black and white sailors who formed an unlikely brotherhood of resistance. This is a forgotten chapter of the Underground Railroad—one that unfolded on the open sea. #SaltwaterRailroad #RichardBarnard #UndergroundRailroad #MaritimeEscape #Bahamas #FugitiveSlaveAct #IntracoastalWaterway #SeaIslands #GulfStream #TreatyOfGhent #Charleston #BlackSailors #Abolitionism #19thCentury #AmericanSouth #Slavery #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]