… 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 16^th 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