The African Diaspora

Throughout this blog I refer to the African Diaspora, which for the most part is understudied in educational institutions. It puts students at a considerable disadvantage unless they pro-actively delve into the history of slavery and colonization. The Portugese were one of the first European nations to engage in the slave "trade," which is a serious misomer, since those who were sold reaped no economic benefit. Ibn Battuta (in his Rhila or journey, 1325-1354 A.C.E.) writes about the splendor of Kilwa, a city which dominated east African coastal trade. Reaching the city in the mid-15th century and armed with superior weaponry, the Portugese massacred the people and sacked the city, planting thier flag while their priest looked on. Red arrows on the map indicate a huge population dispersal of various ethnic groups (estimates are anywhere from 10 to 60 million) to the Caribbean (a central distribution point) and Brazil which was a Portugese stronghold in "the new world." This map helps the viewer imagine where people from the continent were scattered. Although it was outlawed in the early 19th century, Africans were still imported illegally to north America. This scattering or broadcast of DNA (genetic seeds) across land masses and oceans causes us to recombine in ways which forever altered the future of who we have become. Although the soil was rife with adversity, we took root and "flowered," as Bob Marley sings in Redemption Song, in the coming generations. The dispersal is one reason, coupled with the inhumane system of slavery, for the mental fragmentation that keeps us in a state of psychological darkness or melancholy (the blues). Changing our ancestors' names from African to European ones also caused the mental dislocation of our identity. Most Africans in the Diaspora can only trace their heritage back to the mid to late 19th century using slave census records or maumission documents. Considered inhuman or "chattel" we weren't included in the U.S. census until the mid 19th century. What is significant here is the forced disruption and recombination of a human gene pool. Implications include physical, mental and spiritual ripples, which reach through time...both present and future unless we recover our past, arm ourselves with knowledge and think critically, like "strangers in a strange land," about who and what it is we have become.