Harlem Renaissance In 'Barracoon,' America's Last Slave Tells His Story Of Survival By La'Raven Taylor & Virginia Prescott • Dec 26, 2018 Zora Neale Hurston, the celebrated Harlem Renaissance writer and anthropologist, has a new bestseller out nearly 60 years after her death. She wrote "Barracoon: The Story of The Last 'Black Cargo'" almost a century ago. It’s the nonfiction story of Oluale Kossola, the last survivor of the African slave trade in the United States. Kossola was sold into slavery and taken from West Africa when he was 19. Listen Listening... / 32:35 On Second Thought host Virginia Prescott speaks with Deborah Plant.