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“[…] I’m a slave from a land so far/ I was caught/ And I was brought here from Africa…/ I’m a slaaaave from a land so far/ I was caught/And I was brought here from Africa/
“Ah toil, ah toil/ Ah toil, ah toil/ So haaaard each day…/ I’mm dying…/ Yeah, I’m crying…/ Oh…/ Oh Lord, I wanna be free! […]”
Sparrow, 1964.
Sixty years after this calypso, a young politician, Farley Augustine, called Dr Keith Rowley, a senior politician, a ‘house slave’! This approach takes all the issues of slavery and reduces them to a simple binary: house versus field slave.
It refuses to accept what Sparrow articulated: “[…] We were caught and brought here from Africa…”
We were enslaved. We were property. There was no joy for any of us.
“So hard each day/ I’m dying…/ Yeah, I’m crying…”
Farley, to ignore this reality is cruel.
The enslaved became property by virtue of their skin colour. Their black skin made their status as property clear. Forced to do their master’s bidding, they had no rights. They were virtually the same as an ox or a hoe. They were not humans.
This status was enforced by violence; actual and threatened. They could be bought and sold. As Orlando Patterson said, they suffered social death–a stripping of their identity and culture. Their familial ties were uprooted, and they lacked community or belonging. (1982).
To harp on the type of work being done is to play into the hands of the oppressor. The enslaved who worked in the homes of the planters were under constant scrutiny and had no time off. The owners were present at all times, and those enslaved persons were expected to be available for every call and whim.
(Courtesy Netssa.com)
This constant on-duty presence was not the fate of those who worked in the fields; they could rest after their tasks. Being close to the master and his family also exposed the house help to physical and sexual violence.
White men impregnated enslaved women routinely. Children born of these copulations were not given the rights of their fathers.
In some instances, there was caring by the masters, but it should not be generalized. They may have worn better clothes, but they were still property. The woman may be characterized as Mammy, but that does not mean that she was accepted as a human. It was a deliberate ploy to shape her as a compliant and happy servant.
This picture of a jolly woman content to take care of the needs of the white family is at the root of the assertion that slavery brought benefits to the enslaved.
The enslaved house help provided food to the others and, most significantly, passed on the news about the enslavers’ plans to their fellow sufferers. This activity should be interpreted as an innate appreciation of what is called today the class struggle.
Those who worked in the house did not believe or act as though they were from a different class from those in the field.
In Tobago, we learnt that the planters would get information about plans for revolts from some of the enslaved. They would grant freedom for such information. The persons who would disclose these plans were not confined to either the house or field groups.
Some would always seek their personal benefit at the expense of the group. One never knows who will go against you.
When Malcolm X, the Muslim Afro-American activist, spoke about house slaves, he was taking rhetorical advantage of peculiar circumstances. Martin Luther King’s civil rights efforts had received two significant setbacks.
He suffered a tremendous defeat in Albany, Georgia. Then, on 14 January 1963, Governor George Wallace proclaimed, “segregation now, segregation tomorrow, and segregation forever”.
Segregation seemed to be set forever.
It was against this background that Malcolm X enunciated that King and his cohort had failed to understand the needs of the masses. Yet, Malcolm X understood the class dimensions of the struggle.
We all build on the shoulders of those who went before. There is no need to damn them. We may use different means, but it is the same struggle.
Screaming behind her is
You may think Dr Rowley is on the ropes, but watch out for those who snuggle up to you. Unknown assassins killed both King and Malcolm X. They will praise and encourage you but do not have your or your people’s interests at heart.
Can we beseech our leaders to lead us wisely? Can we discuss matters in a manner that sheds light?
We wanna be free to dream and live in freedom!
Bob Marley sang:
Won’t you help to sing/ Another song of freedom?/ ‘Cause all I ever have/
Redemption song/ We sing a song for emancipation/ The words fill your soul, your every frame/
Out with the day with anticipation/ We harmonize on the very same song/ Won’t you sing along/
Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery/ None but ourselves can free our minds.
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I will suggest that all that were under colonial rule read the book titled: “Barracoon “ written by Zola Neale-Hurston. This true story not only mention enslaved Africans but shows exactly who are the “slave catchers.” Although we talk about emancipation, many once colonized countries are still enslaved.