For nearly a decade, Atlanta-based storyteller Tara Roberts has traveled the globe in search of untold stories about African Americans’ influence on aquatic life.
Roberts, who was named National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence last year, regularly joins Diving With a Purpose, a group of Black scuba divers who uncover and document slave shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean in search of artifacts dating back to the Middle Passage.
Roberts told UATL they’re setting out to humanize the mass of enslaved Africans who never made it to land. “They’re thought of as this block of statistics, but they were mothers, fathers, scientists, poets and dreamers, so we’re trying to tell the stories of the ancestors, who they are and what happened on those ships,” Roberts said.
She chronicles their work in her new memoir, “Written in the Waters: A Memoir of History, Home and Belonging,” released today. Divided into three sections, Roberts takes readers on vivid excursions across Asia, Africa and the Caribbean, discovering how each place is connected through the trans-Atlantic slave trade.
“We’re spread everywhere and part of the vast majority that’s been disconnected. We don’t know exactly where we came from, but traces of our culture were spread throughout the Atlantic, so it’s a part of us and our heritage,” Roberts said.
Credit: Tara Roberts
Credit: Tara Roberts
The book shares historical moments and lists Black maritime pioneers like Albert Jose Jones, who founded Underwater Adventure Seekers, credited as the first Black scuba club, in 1959.
Roberts describes in “Written in the Waters” how traveling became transformative, leading her to make discoveries about her own identity and family history. She said diving helped her overcome being ashamed of slavery.
“It felt hard, painful and traumatic. I was afraid of that history, so I used to stay away from it,” she said. “I thought I could focus on the adventure and science of this work, but as we went forward, it felt like I’d met my past and embraced it.”
Born and raised in Southwest Atlanta, her interest in scuba diving began in 2017 after visiting the Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture. There she spotted a photo of several Black women members of Diving With a Purpose, dressed in wetsuits and scuba gear on a boat.
Impressed to see so many women of color, Roberts said she wanted to help raise awareness of the organization and their work preserving Black oceanic stories.
“Scuba diving is us going into an environment that’s not made for us. I’d never seen us in the midst of adventures that involve the water and the ocean,” Roberts said.
“I wanted to be a part of it in some way, so I decided to tell stories about them and what happens under the water.”
In 2018, Roberts started training with DWP and backpacking across the world. Her backpacking helped her secure several grants and a fellowship from National Geographic. She created “Into the Depths,” an immersive, six-episode podcast and audio documentary featuring conversations with scholars, divers, historians and descendants of slaves.
Credit: Tara Roberts
Credit: Tara Roberts
Ken Stewart, DWP’s cofounder, said Roberts’ commitment to uncovering truth aligns with DWP’s mission.
“Tara is a dynamic sister who makes stuff happen. She has brilliant ideas and is able to communicate and execute them. She’s very generous with her time, talents and has brought a tremendous amount of exposure to our organization,” he said.
Courtlandt Butts, an Atlanta-based safety officer for National Association of Black Scuba Divers and instructor with Diving With a Purpose, took an underwater archaeology class with Roberts in 2018. He said Roberts prioritizes being accurate and authentic in her work.
“She can tell a story and tell it well. It’s not a common thing to have Black women — scuba diving and a published author — to speak about those experiences. She’s raising the bar and gives us an opportunity to not have our narratives and human history distorted anymore,” Butts said.
Roberts said telling stories about her ancestors through travel has turned fear into pride. “This is a quest, and I feel fierce. I didn’t feel sad underwater at all, because we are bringing stories that have been hidden back into collective human memory,” she said.
“I’m helping the ancestors speak their names, be remembered and tell their story, and that’s not anything to be ashamed of or feel sad about.”
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