Brenda Braithwaite--the designer Barnes has been looking for

Brenda Braithwaite's daughter came home from school having learned about the Middle Passage which she could expurgate some facts about. Brenda knew her daughter didn't get it, so she crafted a small game. She got some meeples and called them families, a green family, a blue one, a red one and so on. She had a little boat come to take them away, taking a few greens, a red, and a couple of blues. Her daughter noted that the whole family wasn't going. The game also had a little resource limitation on the boat as it crossed the table. Her daughter noted that the boat wasn't going to make it, and Brenda told her daughter they could make it if they left some meeples in the water. Her daughter worked it out and cried. 

And then she talked about TRAIN.

Barnes--you're the one that clamors for honest exploration of these themes--here you go.