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By Stephen Hanks
In the year 1715, in the
fifth m onth, in the 33,d o f the
headship o f K orwolo, C hiet
E ld e r o f the south ea ste rn
dako, there was a woman in
the village o f Zwedru, near
the river C avella, who was
heavy in child. Her name was
B ina, and her husband, the
f a th e r o f h e r c h ild , w as
M ennah, the son o f Sensobo.
In the fifth m onth, on the
ninth day o f the m onth, the
wom an Bina gave birth to a
daughter. They named the girl
A k e y , a f te r the n am e o f
M ennah’s m other. The son o f
M ennah was Nadi, and his
b rothers were Prero, whose
w ife was M imba, and Bodebe,
w ife was Couba.
W hen M ennah’s son Nadi
reaches eight years, he is sent
away to live with the village
teacher to learn the skills of
fishing. There he will learn to
canoe, make a fishing line,
the use o f w eights, and how
to use the jlo d e (harpoon). He
also will be taught geography,
m eteorology, and astronom y,
so to learn how the w inds,
clouds, landm arks, and p o si­
tion o f the stars all aid a skilled
fis h e rm a n . N a d i’ s f a th e r,
u n cles, and g ran d fath er all
w ent through their training
during their respective tim e.
They were thankful for the
know ledge they gained, such
as k n o w in g th e f is h in g
grounds o f the rock fish, the
snapper, and the cavella. And
all kru fisherm en w ould a l­
ways relate w ith great pride
their stories o f bringing home
to the feast the prized shark
or crocodile.
W hen Nadi returned home
from his training, he was very
e a g e r to show h is fa th e r,
uncles and g ran d fa th e r the
seafaring sk ills he had a c ­
quired. In fact, Nadi wanted
now to becom e a sailor like
his grandfather. He even b e ­
gan to show his sister Akey
so m e th in g s he had b een
taught. E ventually in tim e,
Akey began accom panying her
brother Nadi to the fishing
g ro u n d s a lo n g th e r iv e r
C a v e lla . O c c a s io n a lly , the
women o f the village went
with the men to assist with
the catch. Couba, Mimba, Bina
and Akey would build traps to
w ould take the bark from c e r­
tain trees, beat it on rocks,
then take the c h a ff o f the bark
and throw it into the w ater to
stupify the fish.
O ne day the wom en had
com e w ith their men to tish.
Akey was now ten years old.
She becam e tired and went
over to sit in the shade under­
neath a silk cotton tree away
in the distance. I know this
because I saw her w hile I was
m aking m y self a new fishing
line. I continued for a tim e
stringing my new line when I
looked up and Akey was no
longer there. I walked over to
the spot w here she had sat.
Suddenly, several “ S edibo”
(young so ld iers), they were
not o f our dako, w ith wooden
clubs and spears, rushed upon
me. I ran faster then they and
yelled at the top o f my lungs a
warning cry “ M U !!!” (RUN ).
One spear I nearly dodged.
Many o f my people fled into
the fo re sts, but the sedibo
were still pursuing me. I ran
along a trail they w ere not
fam iliar w ith, bringing c o n fu ­
sion to them . 1 quickly d e­
cided to run back tow ards the
river and grab my canoe. This
was not w ise, as two o f the
soldiers were standing guard
over them . I stayed still w here
I was and hid am ong the bush.
But the soldiers I could hear
were nearing me again and I
feared that 1 w ould be d isc o v ­
ered. G rabbing som e sm all
rocks in both hands, 1 threw
them into the brush in the
direction o f the two standing
by the canoes. T hinking it was
sound o f the rocks. Im m edi­
ately I sw iftly ran tow ards
the closest canoe, grabbed it,
and jum ped into the river. The
oars were still inside. But the
tim e I had b o u g h t m y s e lf
proved sho rtliv ed as the s o l­
d iers spotted me and cam e
again. Two ju m p ed in one c a ­
noe and two m ore in another.
I tried to paddle as fast and
as hard as I co uld, but they
soon overtook my canoe, and
b in d in g m e w ith r o p e s
b r o u g h t m e b a c k a s h o re .
They then took me to th eir
cam p, and there I saw young
Akey along w ith several o th ­
ers who had been cap tu red ,
though I did not recognize
any o f them as my fam ily
except Akey. She cried out to
me as I im plored my captors
to let us go. They did not
understand my language, but
se e in g th a t th e c h ild was
g rea tly d istre sse d and was
recognizing m e, allow ed us
to sit to g eth er through the
night as they stood guard.
The next day we w ere all
roped to g eth er by the neck
and m arched to the c o a st,
w here upon a rriv in g we were
then sold to the nye-puru (the
E uropeans) and put aboard
their ship. Akey and the other
two wom en w ere then fa s ­
tened w ith irons on the deck
o f the ship, w hile I and the
other m en, tw enty o f us were
taken below in the hold. As
Akey saw me go dow n, she
scream ed my nam e “ Bodebe!
Bodebe!! B o ...”
The ship “ P ro v id e n c e ,” an
E n g lis h v e s s e l , le f t th e
young A frican m en, wom en
an d c h il d r e n . T h e y w e re
p rin c e s , te a c h e rs , d o c to rs ,
a rtisa n s , w e av ers, w e ld e rs,
fisherm en, fath e rs, m others,
husbands, w ives, sons, and
d au g h ters. They w ere hum an
beings, shackled away from
their m otherland, but still hu­
man beings. The long voyage
w o u ld ta k e m any d ay s to
reach its d estin atio n across
the b o iste ro u s, choppy A t­
lantic sea. From tim e to tim e,
the m en dow n in the hold
w ould be brought up for fresh
air and ex e rc ise , as the b o t­
tom was so foul not even the
un clean est dog w ould lay its
head. W hen B odebe w ould
com e up on deck, he would
look up at the stars to try and
pinpoint his position, and how
far he w as from the riv e r
C avella; but his bearings were
to ta lly thrown o ff in his weak
c o u ld , he w ould check on
young Akey, the daughter of
his brother M ennah, from the
village o f Zwedru. The young
child Akey was at least given a
blanket to be put around her
when the winds proved too
cold for her shivering body to
absorb. Bedebe would shout
encouragem ent to his niece
each chance he could, “ Dju
(child), stay strong! The great
N yesw a (G od) w ill p rotect
us!” And at other tim es he
would say, “ Be like by name
"B odebe” (antelope), you will
have water to drink soon,” and
still yet, “ Be like your name
“ Akey” (fruit tree), the fruit
that saved your father when
but a baby, and also helped
giv e b irth to y o u r g ra n d ­
m other.’ Bodebe was perm it­
ted to shout these things to her
either because their English
captors could not understand
wish to pay him any attention
due to the many cries and wails
that were being made by all.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Dirty Little Secrets
B y ---------------
D r . C laud B A
nderson
----------------
Why Were Blacks Preferred
Slaves?
It was not by simple chance
that the black race was selected
for enslavement. It resulted from a
process o f elimination. Europe­
ans were not interested in enslav­
ing members of their own race.
Asians were protected by geo­
graphical barriers. Indians refused
to be enslaved, indicating a will­
ingness to die first. What group
was next? Blacks! The Catholic
Church recommended blacks be­
cause they felt one black slave
was worth three to four Indian
slaves. More specifically, Afri­
can blacks were selected and ef­
fectively ens laved for at least five
reasons: 1) They had an agricul­
tural history based upon an ex-:
tended family work system; 2)
They lacked a broad sense of com­
munity based on skin-color and
were divided along the lines of
tribalism; 3) They were simulta­
neously invaded and enslaved by
every religious denomination, na­
tional government, ethnic and ra­
cial group; 4) They lacked guns
and exploding powder; and 5)
Their “internal disposition” 'al­
lowed
them
to
accept
enslavement This combination of
factors set the stage for African
blacks to become the “chosen
people” for enslavement.
^ “Black Holocaust”
From the 15*to 19* centuries, a
“black Holocaust” was carried
out. Two-thirds of the 35 million
slaves shipped out of Africa died
en route to the Americas. Neither
an apology nor reparations have
been offered to the victimized;
black race.
African Colonies
At a Berlin conference in 1876,
European governments arbitrarily
divided up the entire African con­
tinent into colonies, then ex-»
ploited them until they were the
most economically impoverished
nations on^arth
Slavery Gave Birth To
Capitalism
The international commercial­
ization o f black slavery changed
the world and its economic con­
cepts, The old European mercan­
tilism was replaced by capitalism.
it profiting from
ict, ca
another^
■ H I
bor. The word, “factory” was first
introduced in the 15th century to
describe Portuguese buildings that
were used as holding places for
slaves at points along the West
African coast.
The “franchising concept,” as
popularly known, was introduced
by the English Royal African Com­
pany in 1668 to establish a mo­
nopoly on the slave trading indus­
try. Like modem day franchising
chains, for a 15 percent fee, the
Royal African Company provided
its franchised slave plantation
owners with land, supplies, mili­
tary protection, and a ready market
for the raw, slave-produced cash
products.
By the early 1800s, with a re­
newed interest in cotton produc­
tion, plantations that had at least
100 slaves introduced a gang sys­
tem of work. In the gang system,
slaves were assigned work using
an assembly line-type process that
revolutionized the use of slave la­
bor, introduced mass production
and significantly increased pro­
ductivity. Raw materials produced
by slaves fueled both Europe ’ s and
America’s industrial and banking
revolutions.
Black Market
During the latter part of the
1700s, alt five of the “civilized
tribes” were slave holders, slave
traders and slave chasers. Indians
earned $20 for every captured and
returned runaway slave.
Who Was “Black”?
By the 1900s, every state in the
United States had laws that de­
fined who wasblack based upon
parentage, varying quantities of
black blood or the “one drop” of
black blood rule.
Slaves M arketed On Easy
Terms
African slaves were typically
purchased at auction houses in
the slave markets of major urban
ports such as the District of Co­
lumbia, Charleston, New Orleans,
Hampton and Savannah For those
who rarely left the rural areas ofthe
country, slave wagons traveled the
back roads hawking their slave
wares at bargain prices. But, unlike
large auction houses, they did not
guarantee their “goods "
, J For those who did not have acy
Cess to an auction^ljjjuse or roving
slaye wagons, tljere was always
il orderTbute. An interested
yet couid'ord?r by mail'
specifying the size, sex, and even
the tribe of the African slave he
wished to purchase. Many mail
order houses allowed slaves to be S tæb
bought for a small down payment
and reasonable payment terms of
three, six, nine or twelve months.
Needless to say, slaves damaged
after purchase could not be re­
turned to the auction houses,
slave wagons, or mail order cen­
ters, for monies back.
\
The Last Boat Load of Slaves
International slave trading was
outlawed in the United States in
1807, but illegal international and
domestic legal slave trading con­
tinued right up until the Civil War
began. The Clothilde docked in
Alabama in 1859 with aslave cargo
making it possibly the last ship to
bring illegal slaves into an Ameri­
can port. The ship carried approxi­
mately 130 men, women and chil­
dren who had been kidnapped from
Tarkar, a village in West Africa.
The ship's captain, William
Fowler, eluded federal authorities
patrolling the Mississippi Sound,
unloaded his ship in Mobile, Ala­
bama, then said farewell to slave
trading by burning it.
Unfortunately, for Fowler, the
pending Civit War had drastically
closed down most slave markets.
He was unable to sell the slaves,
so he set them free as soon as the
war started. This last shipment of
black slaves was able to stay to­
gether and formed a village, Af­
rica Town, in an area known as
the Plateau, near Mobile. They
were ¡probably the only blacks
able to keep their African cus­
toms,names, and language. De­
scendants of these black slaves
can still be found in East Mobile.
Cudjoe Lewis, the last of the origi­
nal Tarkar slaves, died in 1935.
The Last Black Slave Dies
On October 2, 1979 the last
former black slave died. Charlie
Sm ith, who claim ed to be
America’s only living former
slave, passed at an unbelievable
one hundred and thirty-seven
years of age. Smith lived in North
Florida, in the heart of the old
Cotton Belt. In a public ceremony
in the m id-1970s, Governor
Reuben Askew of Florida recog­
nized Smith with a special certifi­
cate of merit. Smith” mind re­
trained lucid on his personal life,
slavery, and black history up
until his death.
■ k, '
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Portland, OR 97204
(503) 294-1414
Pay Tribute To Black
History Month