Bouki Fait Gombo: A History of the Slave Community of Habitation Haydel (Whitney Plantation) Louisiana, 1750-1860

Through an in-depth study of one of Louisiana's most important sugar plantations, Bouki Fait Gombo traces the impact of slavery on southern culture. This is a thorough examination of the Whitney's evolution from the precise routes slaves crossed to arrive at the plantation's doors to records of the men, women, and children who were bound to the Whitney over the years. Although Bouki Fait does not shy away from depicting the daily brutalities slaves faced, at the book's heart are the robust culinary and musical cultures that arose from their shared sense of community and homesickness. The release of this book coincides with the opening of the Whitney Plantation Museum, a "site of memory dedicated to a fuller understanding of the facts of slavery, our national tragedy."

Ibrahima Seck is a member of the history department of Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar (UCAD), Senegal. His research is mostly devoted to Louisiana. In 1999, he defended a doctoral dissertation entitled, "African Cultures and Slavery in Lower Mississippi Valley from Iberville to Jim Crow." He is also the academic director of the Whitney Heritage Plantation Corporation.