A message by the President of New
African Chapter on the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of
Slavery and the Transatlantic on 25th March, 2017
For no apparent reason, whenever the history of the Black race is being
told, it starts from slavery. But before then our history had a lot of
positives, in fact slavery is just a tip of the iceberg. We were ruled by kings
(Mansa Musah the richest man of all time, Sundiata, etc); we had empires
(Songhai empire, Mali empire, Ghana
empire etc); we had heroes (Hannibal, Attila etc); and we were the first to
start documenting ( the famous library of Alexandria- Egypt).
A quote from Marcus Garvey says, "If black people were aware of
their glorious past, then they will be more inclined to respect themselves.The
time has come for the Blackman to forget his hero worship of other races and to
create and emulate heroes of his own."
Indeed, Africa has always
been the cradle of civilization before the ugly picture of the transatlantic
slavery was painted, which has left mother Africa in tattered penury, destitute
and impoverished; but conversely amassed generational wealth for the West.
Our ancestors were jettisoned like some rubbish when there was
shortage of food and water. Our beautiful women were raped while the weak and
sick ones were left die. Perhaps our ancestors' biggest mistake was to trust
the Whiteman who initially appeared as a friend,trader and missionary but was
rather something entirely dangerous. As the saying goes "trust
is a form
of weakness, so be careful with whom you trust".
As a race, we are not proud of this part of our History. It sends
shivers down our spines when we talk about it. However, a people who have no
knowledge of their history will never have a clear vision of the future.
For your brief enlightenment, "Slavery is the state of being
under the control of another person, whether openly or clandestinely". The
Atlantic Slave Trade or Transatlantic Slave trade took place across the
Atlantic Ocean from the 15th through the 19th Centuries. The vast majority of
those who were enslaved and transported to the New World, mainly on the
triangular trade route and its Middle Passage, were Africans from the central
and western parts of the continent who had been captured to Western European
slave trade.
Indeed, America's agriculture industry became vibrant majorly due
to the black slaves' hard work on their farms. Some of these slaves make their
marks in technology: Nathaniel Alexander invented the folding chair in 1911, while
Fredrick McKinley Jones invented the first automatic refrigeration system for
trucks and has 60 patents for inventions to his name. As you would expect,
these slaves never got the credit they deserved for their works.
These Slaves were mistreated and disallowed to vote until the
likes of Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Marcus Garvey, and Harriet Tubman
fought for the little freedom their siblings are enjoying today.
Yes, we believe and know
Africa to be the cradle of civilization (Egypt, Ethiopia, etc) yet we are
discredited for that too; an experience similar to how the slaves were treated back
then. We believe that all people have inalienable rights and need to be treated
equally. However, it is a pity others don't see it that way. Today has once
again come to remind us of the toils of our ancestors in foreign lands through Slavery.
And we are raising our voice to say that "Slavery was a horrible
experience and history and would always be."
Approximately 12 million enslaved people were transported in the
transatlantic slave trade, at the rate of 100,000 persons per year. This large-scale
organization of European slave trading and the development of industry and massive
plantations dependent on slave labor gave rise to a trade in humans that was staggering
in its scale. That scale of manpower totally changed their economy.
The question now is,"Has slavery ended or it has disguised
itself into another form?"
As we mark today, let us all rise to observe a minute of silence for
all our fellow Africans whose freedom
was taken away by slavery, the heroes of our past.
#SlaveryIsACrimeToHumanity
#InRemebranceOfOurBrothers
#HeroesOfThePastBright
Bright Bruce-Lewicki Acquaye
President and Founder
New African Chapter
No comments:
Post a Comment