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In the summer of 1994, when I was in Nouakchott, Mauritania, research ing my first book on the spread of Islamic scholarship in the western Sahel (the area of Mauritania and northern Mali), I met a local Arab scholar at the archives who graciously invited me to his home. He wanted to share some primary source documents in exchange for some books I had brought with me. As I enjoyed his hospitality, sipping mint tea, a little girl of dark complexion appeared at the door. I called for her to come in, but she did not move or speak. I again called to her and asked, "I have a cam era. Do you want to take a picture?" Still she did not react. The scholar's wife then entered the room and said: "Don't bother with her; she is just a slave ['abda]." After a while, she added that I should buy one and take her with me to Morocco in order to assist my mother in her household chores. I was taken off guard. I had naively believed that Africa was cur rently free of these cruel practices, yet this little girl was living proof that slavery still existed. I wanted to do something but felt powerless. I was enraged and left hastily. While still in Mauritania, I inquired about the issue of slavery, but as it was a politically sensitive issue in Nouakchott, people were apprehensive and avoided talking about it. I did learn, how ever, that when Mauritanians call a black person by the terms 'abd or 'abda (Arabic generic terms that designate male and female slaves respec tively), they often refer to the blacks' family origins rather than their current legal condition. In either case the stigma persisted. I concluded