SILENT TERROR is the disturbing story of a black
Americans journey into the horrors of modern-day slavery in Africa. The
authors odyssey takes him from New York to the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, where
he comes face to face with the Arab-Berbers centuries-old practice of enslaving
black Africans. Samuel Cottons research exposes this heinous practice while
documenting and analyzing the hatred that the Arab minority holds for blacks, both slave
and free, in a country where everyone is Muslim.
Cotton takes the reader into the
life of oppressed Africans and provides critical insights into the use of religion and
language to successfully enslave blacks. He also shows the process by which Arab masters
produce docile slaves. The narratives he recorded from those who escaped reveal the
capacity for hope and courage. Interviews with former slaves who have become abolitionist
leaders show the path from bondage to freedom and offer the hope that this grim practice
will one day be a relic of the past. Silent Terror examines why African nations
have been silent on this subject and the role that neocolonialism plays in continuing an
unspeakable practice.
This book is also a personal
narrative. The author shares the impact of coming to grips with his African past and
identity and his internal and external struggles to bring the issue of slavery to the
American public. He sheds light on the growth of a modern-day abolitionist movement aimed
at destroying the remaining strongholds of slavery and details the difficulty of getting
the Black Muslim community to confront the idea of slavery in the Islamic world and to get
black people in general to deal with this painful reality.