Diving with a Purpose: Kamau Sadiki
The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum invites you to spend an evening with a leader in underwater archaeology, who has documented some of the most significant shipwrecks from the Transatlantic Era of African Enslavement — including the Guerrero in southern Florida and the Clotilda in the Mobile River in Alabama — and has been featured by National Geographic in the award-winning documentary DESCENDANT.
Join us on Thursday, September 17, as Kamau Sadiki shares how the compelling combination of underwater archaeology, history, and storytelling can deepen our understanding of the past and inspire the future.
This program is free to attend but advance registration is required. Doors open at 6:00 p.m. Program begins at 6:30 p.m. in the ALPLM Union Theater.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Kamau Sadiki is a Board member and Lead Instructor with Diving With A Purpose (DWP), an organization committed to documenting shipwrecks involved in the Transatlantic Era of African Enslavement (TEAE) through underwater archaeology. He is the DWP representative on the Slave Wrecks Project International Leadership Team. Kamau has worked on five TEAE shipwrecks including the Guerrero in southern Florida and the Clotilda in the Mobile River in Alabama, the last ship to bring captured Africans into the USA. He is featured in the documentary film “DESCENDANT” that tells the story of the Clotilda descendant community of Africatown, AL. Kamau has conducted numerous lectures and presentations on TEAE shipwrecks, memory and resistance. He is a chapter co-author in Citizen Scientist in Maritime Archaeology: The Power of Public Engagement, University Press of Florida (2023) and published an article in DAN Alert Diver magazine (Q3 2022). Kamau is dedicated to de-colonizing the historical narrative of underwater archaeology, with emphasis on interpreting the spiritual dimensions of interrogating TEAE artifacts.
September 17, 2026 6:30 PM – September 17, 2026 7:30 PM
Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum
212 north sixth street
112 N 6th St
Springfield, Illinois 62701
Admission is free
Register online at https://www.tix.com/ticket-sales/ALPLMSpecialEvents/2469/event/1482432
(217) 558-8844
https://presidentlincoln.illinois.gov/Event/32468/Diving-with-a-Purpose-Kamau-Sadiki/event-details/