Was Slavery a choice?

Around this time 2 years ago Kanye West made the controversial comment that "slavery was a choice" while he was at the TMZ headquarters. At the time, like many black people, I was offended by what he said. Looking back at it, Kanye was just ignorant about black history and I can't blame him, or those who say "we are not our ancestors". In the west, what you are taught about Black history is that Europeans came to Africa, stole millions of African's with the help of other Africans, put them on  ships and took them to the America's where they were enslaved and worked on plantations for hundreds of years until the government, who out of the kindness of their hearts decided to abolish slavery. This narrative is false.

We are not taught about are the hundreds of slave revolts which took place in Africa,  on the slave ships and in the America's. We are not taught about the key figures who led these revolts. This post is to educate you about some of the revolts and freedom fighters, I urge to do further research on the African resistance to slavery..

Africa

The majority of the rebellions took place on the west coast of Africa. There were Africans who fought with Europeans to prevent them from  capturing and enslaving other Africans.  Some Africans would keep watch for European ships. Some were prepared and killed any European that stepped foot on their shores.

Queen Nzinga of Angola was born in 1583 to the Ndongo royal family. At this time, the slave trade was in full effect and the Portuguese were carrying out slave raids.  Queen Nzinga was military trained by her father and learned how to speak fluent Portuguese. This helped her to negotiate a Peace treaty with the Portuguese in 1622, which included the withdrawal of Portuguese troops and sovereignty for the Ndongo people. However, the Portuguese did not adhere to the treaty and continued the raids. This led to Queen Nzinga fighting numerous battles (some of which she won) against the Portuguese for 30 years to prevent them from capturing africans. After this a new peace treaty was signed between the two parties.

Slave ships 

There were 450 recorded forms of resistance on slave ships.

Amistad
In 1839 a slave ship called 'Amistad' which contained 53 Africans who were illegally captured, had set sail from Cuba to another island. One of the Africans, Joseph Cinque managed to break his shackles and then freed the other Africans on the ship. They revolted and killed the Captain and the cook but spared the life of the navigator who promised to sail the ship back to Sierra Leone, where the captured Africans were from. Instead, the navigator sailed the ship to the USA. The Africans were jailed and a long complex trial took place, about the status of the Africans. Eventually, the Court held that the African's could be returned to Africa as they had been captured illegally. In 1842 they arrived back in Sierra Leone.

The Marlborough revolt
In 1752 an english owned slave ship, the Marlborough contained 420 Africans from the west coast of Africa. Three days after the ship had sailed, the African captives revolted and killed 33 out of the 35 crew members. The remaining two crew members were used to sail the ship back to Africa where the captives returned.

Unites States of America

The USA alone had 250 slave rebellions who took place during the period of slavery.

Nat Turner
Nat Turner was a slave who became a preacher, he planned a rebellion and believed that he was led by God. On 21 August 1891, he along with other African slaves armed themselves with weapons and went from plantation to plantation killing all the white inhabitants, and freeing the slaves. Around 70 black people joined him. About 50-60 white people were killed including women and children. The state militia put an end to the rebellion and Nat Turner was eventually executed after being found whilst in hiding. Many of the black people involved were also executed and black people who were not involved in the rebellion were also killed by whites. This rebellion had created fear in the white communities.

Seminole/Gullah wars

A lot of enslaved Africans used to escape to the south in Florida, where a population of Seminole Indians lived. These africans assimilated with the seminole Indians and they became "Black Seminoles". As Florida was owned by Spain they allowed the black Seminoles to have settlements there. This was a safe haven for escaped slaves. The American government did not like this and wanted to take their land and remove them. As a result there were three wars which took place between 1817–18, 1835–42 and 1855–58. The second Seminole war was the longest war where 1500 US Soilders were killed. The Black Seminoles used Guerrilla warfare tactics and were known for heavily arming themselves. After the third war many of them migrated to Mexico while some remained in Florida.

Caribbean

The Bussa Rebelloin
Bussa was an enslaved African who led the biggest slave revolt in Barbados with 400 slaves  in April 1816. Many plantations were burned down as the slaves revolted. During battle, Bussa was killed but the slaves continued to fight the British militia, unfortunately the slaves were defeated. However, the legacy of Bussa remains.



Haiti 
The biggest rebellion in history was the Haitian revolution. It was started in 1791 By Dutty Bookman, an enslaved African and Voodou priest. In August, he presided over a voodoo ceremony, which was the start of the revolt. A week later 1800 plantations had been destroyed and 1000 slave owners were killed. The French killed Dutty Boukman in November 1791 and put his head on display as a warning to other slaves. This did not stop the revolution. The rebellion was then led by General Toussaint Louverture who successfully led the revolt and emancipated the slaves. He ruled Haiti until 1803 when he was captured and imprisoned by the French until he died. His general Jean-Jacque Dessalines took over and defeated the French army in 1803. Haiti was declared an independent nation in 1804, Dessalines ordered the killing of all the French people on the island. Haiti became the first black nation to become independent and successfully overthrow European rule. He ruled Haiti until his assassination in 1806. (You can watch 1804 by Tariq Nasheed which explains the revolution in depth)

South America

Zumba palmemra
Palmares in Brazil was established around 1605 by 40 enslaved Africans
who had escaped slavery. They discovered the first government of free Africans known as the Republic of Palmares.The population continued to grow until about 30,000 people. Zumbi became the king of Palmares and led resistance against the Portuguese, who kept attacking them. The Palmares military were experts in self defence . Zumbi never bowed down to the Portuguese and kept fighting against slavery. Zumbi was captured and killed on November 20, 1695. His legacy remains in Brazil.

The Berbice Slave uprising Cuffy was originally from Ghana and was enslaved in Guyana . On 23 Feburary 1763, he armed himself with weapons and along with numerous slaves, attacked slave owners seizing control over their plantations and freeing slaves. About 3000 blacks were part of the revolt and began to take control of some of the regions . Many white people had fled for their safety. In 1764 European troops came to put an end to the rebellion and took control of the land.


This is only a very tiny amount of the revolts that took place. Africans have always resisted against oppression, this includes slaves poisoning their masters, breaking machinery, refusing to work etc. Africans were not passive docile people but were freedom fighters (some were warriors) who fought hard for the freedoms that we have today. We are our ancestors.

The Real Size of Africa

From childhood we are taught that the world looks like this. This is the Mercator world map which is used in institutions all over the world. It was created by a Flemish cartographer called Gerardus Mercator in 1569. It was mainly used to assist with navigation for European sailors. 

It is very difficult to get an accurate impression of a sphere shape onto a flat surface, and as a result there will inevitably be distortion on world maps. However, the distortion on this map is very drastic. What we have been taught about the size and land mass of various continents has been a total lie. 

The Gall-Peters map on the right is far more accurate in terms of the landmass of  countries. James Gall in 1855 created a more accurate map in terms of proportion in regards to land mass.  German historian Arno Peters also created a map in 1973 which matches that by James Gall. Hence why it is called the Gall-Peters map. What you will notice is that the countries/continents  in the North of the world is drastically smaller and those in the Southern hemisphere are drastically bigger. Most notably, Africa is double the size in real life than what is shown on the above Mercator Map. South America and Australia are also a lot bigger. You will notice that Europe is a lot smaller.

The question you may be asking is why the Mercator map created this drastic distortion which has been accepted worldwide. This answer is rooted in European imperialism. The size of countries are equated to power, and significance so the bigger a country looks, the more important it is. Hence why Europe's size was increased to look more powerful as this took place during the colonial era. Places like Africa was decreased in size to make it look less significant and less powerful.

The map below created by Visual Capitalist shows the true size of Africa. As you can see the whole of Europe, USA and a large portion of Asia can all fit inside Africa. It shows you how huge the continent of Africa is. The majority of the world's resources come from Africa, hence why Africa sustains the majority of the world.

Image from Visual Capitalist

COVID-19

I don't think any of us could have anticipated that a virus would come and literally put the whole world on lockdown and collapse the global economy. This is the kind of thing you read about in history books that you wouldn't imagine happening in your life time. To be honest, when coronavirus was in China, I wasn't too worried as previous other coronaviruses such as SARS and MERS didn't have this kind of impact globally. In March 2020 is when we actually saw the severity of this disease and many countries took action and closed their borders and ordered a lock down.

Coronavirus causes COVID-19. What is scary is that black people and other ethnic minorities in the UK & USA are dying  at a higher rate from this disease. Like many people I was wondering why. There could be a long list of possible reasons: ethnic minorities are more likely to live in poorer neighbourhoods, this means less access to healthcare, increases in poor diets, and are more likely to be essential workers so they are exposed more.

There will be  no cure for COVID-19 as the pharmaceutical industries do not believe in cures because they profit from people being sick. Usually when you go to hospital for an illness you are usually "treated" by taking medications that "relieve your symptoms",  not cures. For example, with all of these advanced medical practitioners there is still no cure for the common cold. Next time you buy cold medicine check the packaging and you are likely to see the word "relief" not cure. I am also  highly skeptical about any vaccines because of negative side effects they can have but I won't go into that in this post.

I have been watching many documentaries regarding viruses and infectious diseases, doing a lot of my own research and speaking to people in the medical field. I believe that the best way to defeat this disease is by strengthening your immune system.  This way, if you were to catch it you will have a better chance to fight it off. Here are my tips on  what you can do to improve your immune system, most of these things mentioned can be bought at health food stores such as Holland and Barrett's or online. Disclaimer: I am not a medical expert or nutritionist so  feel free to research these things for yourself.

Cleaner Air

- Keep your windows open to allow ventilation. As pollution has gone down considerably the air is much cleaner

- You can burn sage as it is known to kill over 90% of airborne bacteria and disinfects the air

Herbs , Minerals and Vitamins

Mullein - it is known to help clear the respiratory system
Sea moss - contains 92 of the 102 minerals our body requires
Bladderwrack - contains the remaining 10 minerals
Elderberry - contains antioxidants which help to improve the immune system
Black seed oil
Vitamin C
Vitamin D
Zinc


Foods
Citrus Fruits i.e. oranges, lemon, lime
Ginger
Tumeric
Garlic
Cinnamon
Manuka Honey

Drinks
Water - drink a lot of water especially spring water or alkaline water
Green Tea

Things to avoid
Processed foods
Dairy
Too much sugar - this can feed viruses and bacteria
Too much alcohol
Smoking

Noughts + Crosses

I recently binge watched the series Noughts and Crosses, which is based on the 2001 novel of the same name by Malorie Blackman.  The concept of this story is unique. We know through history that Europeans colonised other countries and oppressed its people, including Africans. Now imagine a world where this is flipped, where Africans (referred to as Apricans on the show) colonise Europe and oppress Europeans instead. This story explores this narrative. The black Apricans are 'Crosses' and the white Europeans are 'Noughts'.

This series is set in Albion (England). The black Crosses are the ruling minority. They are in the positions of power, they live in the richest areas, they have the best schools, and have all the privilege. Aprican culture influences everything in Albion including the clothing, architecture of the buildings, music and hairstyles. The white Noughts on the other hand are poor, have no power, do not have as much rights, and live in the poorest areas.  They do not have access to the privileges that the Crosses have.

The story follows the lives of Sephy and Callum. Sephy is a black Cross who is the daughter of a Politician. She is born into wealth and privilege. Callum on the other hand is a white Nought, who is a  the son of a domestic worker that is employed by Sephy's family. Callum's family are poor and endure the struggles of being white. Callum and Sephy end up falling in love with each other in a world where interracial relationships are illegal.

One of the themes explored in the series is Police brutality. (Spoiler Alert) This is shown in one of the early scenes, when Callum, his brother Jude and friend Danny are at a social gathering with other Noughts.  The Police (who are black)  come and use their position of power to abuse  Callum and Danny. Danny gets severely injured by the Police and ends up in hospital.  Throughout the series, it shows that there is always a heavy police presence when Noughts have any kind of public gathering, including a vigil they have for Danny, and a Nought festival called midsummer (the Nought equivalent to Notting Hill carnival). In a latter episode, Callum shares how he has been stopped and searched by Police around 300 times which appears to be the norm for Noughts. Death in custody is also explored when Callum's father is killed in prison, however the officials report that the death was a suicide. This is a narrative which is true for many black men who are consistently stopped and searched by Police more than their white peers and are more likely to die in custody.

Another theme explored is black beauty. In the first episode, Callum is completely captivated by Sephy's beauty. Sephy is a dark skinned black woman with black features. She always wears her hair in its natural afro state. Even the billboards in Albion promote this standard of beauty. There has been no influence of European beauty standards. There are some Noughts who wear braids and curls to assimilate with the Crosses. Watching this made me wish that African beauty standards in the mainstream would exist in today's world. European beauty standards have been so ingrained in us that  characteristics associated with Africans e.g. kinky hair, broad noses, dark skin are equated with ugliness, whereas lighter skin, straighter har, and thin noses are equated with beauty. This is why there are some black women who go to great lengths to try to erase their blackness in the name of beauty.  Unfortunately,  when black beauty is promoted in the mainstream it is usually someone who is mixed or is racially ambiguous.  To see a white man on the show so enthralled by the natural beauty of an unambiguous black woman is something we rarely ever see in real life.

Everything in Albion society is catered to the black Crosses.   The concept of nude colours is briefly addressed. There is a scene when Callum cuts his finger and Sephy puts a plaster on it. The plaster is brown and you can see the contrast between the brown plaster and Callum's white skin. It made me realise how something as minor as the  plasters we use in real life, match the skin tone of white people and do not cater to those of us with darker skin (though there are a few brands that have created plasters for darker skin).

The Crosses are openly racist to Noughts.  The education system promotes the idea of Noughts being inferior while Crosses are superior. One of the biggest newspapers in Albion publishes stories which portray the white Noughts as 'thugs' and paints them in a negative light (like we see newspapers do to black people in real life). The racist term for white people is "Blanca" which is equivalent to the word "nigger". The racist term for those who are mixed is "halfer". In this society, white people are required to sit at the back of the bus .  In the series, Callum wishes to go to Mersey Point which is an all black military school, that is now allowing white students to enrol.  There are a lot of black Crosses who are angry about this and start protesting outside the school. This is reflective of the all white schools being desegregated in the USA and white people protesting when black students started attending. Though the Prime Minister of Albion appears to be progressive and is trying to give rights to the Noughts, Sephy's father disagrees with this and takes action to get her removed. As Sephy's relationship with Callum develops, she begins to become aware of the oppression suffered by the Noughts and challenges a lot of the beliefs she grew up with.

There is a contrast between Callum and his brother Jude. Though they both want the conditions of Noughts to change, they believe in very different methods. Despite being oppressed, Callum doesn't have hatred towards the Crosses but wishes to create change by enrolling at Mersey Point. He wants to change the system from the inside (however his views do shift later). Conversely, Jude is frustrated and has a deep hatred towards the Crosses, he would rather use violence to change the conditions of the Noughts.  Jude joins the Liberation Militia which is a group  that are fighting for the liberation of Noughts from the Crosses by using violence.  The media refers to the Liberation Militia as a 'terrorist organisation'. (It appears that the Liberation Militia to a degree, is based on the Black Panther Party). It seems that Callum and Jude's approaches to liberation  are loosely based on Martin Luther King (Callum) and Malcolm X (Jude).

Unfortunately we still live in a world where racism still exists against people of color. There are some white people who struggle to grasp the concept of racism against black people. There are some others who believe that racism against black people is justified, and find it difficult to empathise with black victims of racism. I hope this series  shows these people how racism looks like towards someone that looks like them, then maybe it would open their eyes and give them a better understanding of racism against black people. I would definitely recommend watching the series as it deeply explores the impact of racism in all aspects of society and how this affects the lives of the oppressed.