Product Description

Tells the true story of a little known African American hero, an African prince who was sold into slavery in the American South in 1788. His name was Abdul Rahman Ibrahima Sori, and he remained enslaved for forty years, before ultimately regaininh his freedom and returning to Africa.
The broad outline of Abdul Rahman's biography reads like a fairytale: A young prince falls from a life of power and privlege into exile and enslavement in a strange land. There he endures inimaginable indignities, yet carves out a life, marries a woman enslaved like himself, and has children. Then, through improbable circumstances, including meeting President John Quincy Adams at the White House, he is granted his freedom and returns to his homeland, but not before he rescues his wife from enslavement and sees his royal status recognized in the very land that held him in bondage.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #36218 in DVD
• Brand: PBS
• Released on: 2008-02-26
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Formats: Anamorphic, Color, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 90 minutes

Customer Reviews

African Prince to American Slave and Back Again
Hollywood really needs to take this story and move with it!

PRINCE AMONG SLAVES is an hour long documentary on the true life events of one Abduhl Rahman,son of the Muslim King of Futa Jallon,who was sold by rival African tribes into Europeans hands and transported to America in 1788.Purchased by a Thomas Foster,"Prince" as he was to be called,serves 40 years as a slave,marries and sires nine children,and becomes political fodder for a Mississippi News Journalist,two Presidents,one Secretary of State and for the entire American Colonization Society in his fight for freedom and return to his homeland.This is a great and absolutely fascinating true story directed and written by Lloyd Jones, Andrea Kalin (American Experience - Partners Of The Heart) and Cannes nominated Bill Duke(The Killing Floor,Miracle's Boys, Hoodlum and Rage in Harlem)."Prince" Rahman's story reads like a fairytale,but it is pointed out,quite poignantly,that much about what is known at the time,may be greatly exaggerated due to how politically motivated certain players were in "using" Rahman's story.

This documentary is narrated by Mos Def and is partially "talking heads" and partially below average re-enactment for a PBS Special.THAT is my only rub with this presentation.The budget may have been low and there is subpar acting,makeup and sets.There is nothing,though,subpar about the information presented here.

Other suggested documentaries of similar interest would be The Middle Passage,The Voyage of La Amistad: A Quest for Freedom as well as the feature films Amazing Grace and Amistad.

Excellent Film and History
If not for a magazine ad that I saw on the subject, I would've never known about this PBS Home video, but I'm so glad that I saw it. This film is about an African prince who was captured ironically on his way from conquering slaves. In this film, viewers find out the differences between indentured servitude, what Africans considered slavery, and what Europeans did to make slavery even more brutal than it already was. This is the type of film that the Board of Education will try to dodge as much as possible, but it is a part of American History that needs to be told. I watched this film and flinched from the treatment of slaves being torn from their families. However, the unique part in this story was that runaway slaves weren't always beaten, at least in the case of this prince who was called Prince without the slaveowner knowing he really was a prince. This film also discusses not all White people were for slavery, which is something that needs to be discussed in schools as well. This film was outstanding, and I wish it had been longer.

A beautiful, untold story that deserves more attention.
This PBS documentary tells the story of an African Prince who is brought to Mississippi in the late 18th century. It it a beautiful and moving story that I never heard in my US History classes. The story of Abdul-Rahman is one of hope and perserverance and truly deserves more attention I hope it is one day made into a feature film one day. I definitely plan on reading the book now.