… before slaves became a commodity in the Western Hemisphere, African natives were enslaving and trading their neighbors, enemies, and criminals.
Unfortunately, on this side of the world and in many other places, until the start of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade in the 16th century, only modern-day native Africans knew there was a slave culture to behold. Not many people acknowledge there are stories, truths and lies, from before the first slave ships docked in the Caribbean and then South Carolina and Virginia that directly correlate with our own stories; accounts that are as much a piece of our history as Barack Obama becoming president.
Black History isn’t just about what transpired in colonial America and the United States, if it were it would be referred to as African-American History.
Our history goes well beyond ourselves and anyone we will ever encounter in this lifetime …
Market Value
trying to bypass the middlemen
in search of India’s luxuries
the Old World met New
and the Atlantic became the highway to Hell
seeds planted in the tropics
sprouted hope for mercantilism
the islands made power and capital
look promising
like
cotton + sugar + tobacco
and molasses + rum + strong brown bodies
(Black Gold)
the natives died
but the work had just begun
New World Economics
the Slave Coast – supply
LABOR – demand
nation states went to war
enslaving enemies
kings and merchants
selling beings and souls
for cloth and booze
and the almighty cowrie
sell or be sold
there was no hiding in the Jungle
the coastal outpost knew how to find them
if not, they were delivered
fresh to the factories
… awaiting export
the Middle Passage
dared them to survive the months below deck
the lucky ones reached the light
before the ship reached shore
kidnapped in vain
only a shadow of their existence
lingering in the corners of the hull
Maafa
the Mother Land traded slaves
long before the Americas called for any
prisoners of wars
hapless captives
but the Europeans created a monster
a relentless market
Africa was slowly
[then quickly]
bled of its human resources
its present
its past
and its future
... been left to write 