Category: Arts and Culture

TOURING THE GOREE ISLAND OF SLAVES IN SENEGAL

Just as the sun began to force its light on the suburbs of Dakar Senegal, I made my way to the Port of Dakar, one of the busiest in West Africa. There were several hundreds of us; some adventurers who came from within the country, and others who came as tourists from all over the world. All of us were headed toward the famous House of Slaves in Goree, which sits in the island like an over-fed crocodile.

We left the crowded port of Dakar at 10:30 am, on one of the Mondays in July, 2018. As we embarked the boat, the mood slowly started to change. People, mostly tourists, were now less talkative. I could feel reality sinking in; especially for the African American couple that approached me back at the port. They told me it was their first time visiting the island. They had always wanted to come but could never afford the trip until now.

They asked questions about our destination so I told them a little about the history of the island and how I used to visit a lot before moving to the US. I told them that when I lived in Senegal, I visited the Goree three to four times a year. I mostly accompanied family friends from outside the country, cousins or my personal friends. Over the years, I had become a regular visitor, so much so that I mastered the tour, even the tour guide recognized me. 

I was familiar with the Island and all of its history, but there was a difference this time. As we started to see the old building, five minutes away from the Island, I found myself lost in the loud silence of the boat. I know this silence. This is the moment I used to make fun of visitors. The moment when everyone goes quiet, when the abundance of tears takes over the loudness. This time was different for me though; I was not observing, I was lost in my thoughts. Perhaps living in the US and learning about slavery in America and the African American journey has lent me a new identity.

The loud voice of the captain announcing our arrival snapped me out of my thoughts. A tour guide greeted us, before separating us in two groups, the first for the English and the second for the French speakers. I went with the English group. I had heard the story many times in French, Fulani and Wolof, so I wanted to hear it in English for the first time. Besides, the African American couple had invited me to join their group. 

As we made our way through the narrow streets of the city, I explained to my new friends that all the houses were randomly painted in yellow, red or white because the whole island had been built in the 18th century and the colors represented the different colonial countries that occupied the island before Senegal gained its independence. The white houses were built by France which was the last occupier. The yellow houses were put up by Portuguese colonizers (the first occupier) who built the first slave house before being replaced by the Netherlands, who owned the red houses. 

On the last street, leading to the famous House of Slaves, stands the Statue of Liberation. This house of slaves was the last one built on the island. The Statue of Liberation is a slave couple standing on a giant drum with a broken chain. The drum symbolizes the courage of the couple, and the force required to break such chains. 

We entered the House of Slave at 12:20 pm, and the tour began. The tour guide explained the significance of each of the houses. He cited renowned people who had visited the island, which included three American presidents: Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and  Barack Obama. While visiting, Pope Jean Paul II apologized to the African continent on behalf of the Catholic Church. Nelson Mandela, who during his visit, stood in the punition room (punishment room) for five minutes, before bursting into tears. The punition room is a small room, no larger than three feet with walls about four feet tall reserved for rebellious slaves. 

As we entered the other rooms, our tour guide explained how the slaves were separated mostly according to age and gender. Slaves were also separated according to weight, and adults who weighed less than 60 kilos were kept in a separate room where they were well fed, as slave traders would not buy slaves who weighed under 60 kilos. Such slaves were regarded as being unable to survive the long trip to the New World and could be wasted. 

After touring all the slave houses and rooms, we were now headed to the famous Door of No Return, which is at the end of a long narrow chamber. The tour guide stood at the door and pointed to where the boats were docked, and explained that Goree was the last stop the boats made because its port is the closest one to the Americas. He directed us to take turns to stand at the door. 

The famous Door of No Return is without doubt the most emotionally charged stage of the tour. Almost everyone broke down as they stood at the door; perhaps imagining themselves as slaves, chained, desparate and helpless! Or maybe just picturing the thousands of slaves that must have stepped foot on that same door. 

It was an emotional moment but I had no tears on my face, largely because I had been there many times before.

The Senegalese government claims that over 6 millions slaves were taken away from this house but some historians argue that only a few thousand slaves have been held in this place. They argue that there couldn’t have been that many slaves because the place was built near the end of the slave trade in 1776. Others argue that there has never been any slaves in this House of Slaves, although it is recognized by UNESCO.

By Amlaku Eshetie

As Africa was the land of the pioneers, the origin of humanity, its people travelled and diffused into the rest of the world in two forms of travel or journey. First, voluntarily – a journey in search of better weather, better land, better situations to live and thrive. The second and later journey was forced by the colonizers – Europeans and Americans.

For the latter form of Africans, leaving their native land was so massive and grave. The inhumane, harsh treatment and exploitation was so denigrating for the human race in general. African youth, men and women, were forcefully taken to the cotton and sugar cane plantations in the Americas. Not only did the African labor cultivate and harvest the industrial crops, but they also built the infrastructure of the major American cities over several centuries.

And now, in our time when slavery was left to history, there is a third and new form of exploitation of African youth – immigration! Including myself, many Africans left (and are leaving) Africa immigrating to mainly the United States of America and Europe. In doing so, they are intergenerationally feeding the labor market and are building the economy of the host countries.

This happens because of the level of hegemony or authority on two realms: economic and political! If a nation or a continent is economically strong and powerful, it is also possible to resist the pressure that any kind of politics or supremacy throws onto it. The prerequisite leading to economic, and hence, political power is education. Citizens have to be well educated so that they can create infrastructures and build their respective country’s economy.

Citizens of most African nations were just contained with what nature endowed them with and never aspired for more for two major and obvious reasons: lack of education and lack of conducive and supportive leadership. Even those who have been lucky to go to school and get educated were educated in colonial education systems and could not tap into local wisdom to solve local problems. On the contrary, we left our respective countries by denouncing the incumbent leadership and political system at the time of fleeing.

As a result, the United States of America has been benefiting a lot in exploiting both forced and voluntary immigrants of Africa – historical and modern slavery! Africans made America and now are continuing to sustain the hegemony of America both in economy and politics.

Well, it is not bad to help and be helped! We work for America and the American system houses and supports us to nurture our talents, realize our ambitions, and support a few of our kins back in Africa from the wealth we make here. Some of us even start some forms of investment back home. That’s a great thing to do as well. However, whatever we do individually never get Africa out of the vicious cycle of poverty, insecurity, violence, and emigration. How about all Africans in the United States join hands and minds? How about if these joined hands and minds to create and implement continental projects focusing on peace and security, regional infrastructure, health, and education?

If Africans living in the United States come together and work together in peace and love, will there be any reason that we can’t bring all our people together back at home as well?

Let’s get all Africans in the United States united! Let’s create an ambitious, stretched goal of remaking Africa. It is possible to build both America and Africa and make both our homes. If Africa is equally strong and wealthy, people can freely travel back and forth, invest and live in both continents; Africa will be for all Americans, and America will be for all Africans. Ambassadors of African nations in the USA will be our liaisons and messengers. We will be the brain house and the funding source and the people and administration on the ground will be implementers of our farfetched, elevating projects.

I’ve not researched, and I do not know if there are any similar formations. However, it is possible that those existing could not be more than a regional entity, if at all targeting beyond a single nation. This one is going to be different and all about AFRICA as ONE! This is the spirit of our Pan African forefathers: Du Bois, Kwame Nkrumah, Haile Selassie, Julius Nyerere, and their compatriots!

Imagine all of us, represented from all the 54 states and the African American brothers and sisters, coming together in love and purpose. Imagine when this love and purpose extends back home and creates peace between and among the African sister nations. Imagine when our poor, innocent, strong, and loving African mothers and fathers benefit from our transnational or cross-border projects. Imagine when leaders sit around the same table and talk about cost and benefit-sharing. Imagine all the kids going to school in peace and happiness. Imagine all the youth put their minds and hands to work, not to stones and weapons of destruction. Imagine when our kids raised in the USA go back to their ancestors’ land to share skills and knowledge with their cousins. Imagine…imagine all of that!

Steps for Action

Interested and like-minded Africans and African Americans here in Colorado will meet a few times to brainstorm to develop or expand this idea. When the idea matures, I suggest that we form a non-profit organization. This organization will be registered at a federal level, and it will work to bring all the black race and problacks together across the board. This global organization will have chapters in different countries such as Canada, China, Germany, and Australia.

The first project will be ‘Peace Awareness and Building”, which starts from the networking and relationships of the members who represent their respective African countries. Although our politicians are often in friction, the people at the grassroot level know nothing about it. What they need is peace and security in order to be able to toil hard to win their daily bread.

The next projects may focus on standardization and liberation of financial transactions – could be to the extent of aspiring for one currency for all Africans (which appears to be a bit too early but it should be on the table), supporting a Pan African University so that it can open campuses in every African capital city, designing or supporting inter-regional railway and bus transportation projects, learning our history and using our respective native language to learn/teach, so and so on.

This is just an aspiration or wish project of a dreamer African, me – Amlaku. Is it your aspiration too? Let’s add your thoughts and aspirations! Let’s come together and realize our wishes for Africa. You don’t agree with this aspiration? Do you call it a fantasy – too good to be implemented? No worries, what alternative and practical vision or wishes do you have for Africa and beyond? Bring them forward and let’s all support you if your ideas are more practical or workable than this one! Let’s come together to be a lot stronger!

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom drags to a different beat, and no one has any other choice but to drag on with her. Expertly performed, directed, and produced, this film brings Broadway back at a time when the world so desperately misses the stage. A thick molasses of blues that conducts like a musical, every word is a rhythm, and the actor’s step in impeccable time. This production is a hard, fast lesson on the broken heart of the blues.

“You sing ’cause that’s a way of understanding life.”

The play turned feature film is based on the mother of the Blues herself Gertrude Pridgett better known as Ma Rainey. Her music was the essence of southern grit, style, and experience. Her parents were part of a traveling minstrel show in the late 1800s which is where she may have gotten her desire to perform. Ma Rainey told every last bit of her story through music keeping it ahunnit about poverty, sex, prison,

magic, superstition, drinking, and the whiles of her travels. Let’s just say, there is no Lizzo without Ma Rainey, there is no Rihanna without this mother of Blues hands down. The film captured not only the essence of Ma, but of Blues and the black experience to a T. This is the essence of August Wilson’s plays.

We begin with dogs barking and two black boys running through the dark woods, you think – dang we starting like this? The boys emerge at a long line leading to a large white tent among the trees and a feeling of relief takes over. A strong sultry voice is heard singing in front of a chorus line of women, dancing to that sexy swing. You can tell everyone would give their mommas left foot to be in that audience every night. What a setting, the audience is in a mood now! Chadwick Boseman’s character, Levee, is eyeing one of our dancing girls; the same girl Ma is eyeing. The young blood that he is, he jumps up in front and starts playing a different swing, but it is clear he is not the conductor of this symphony. Ma throws daggers with her eyes, and this is the tempo set for the concert of this film.

“You done seen the rest, now I’m gonna show you the best.”

August Wilson writes plays for study, each word is to be picked apart, thrown against a wall to see what kind of mark it makes. We see Chadwick Boseman’s character, Levee, pull at the rehearsal door to open it once or twice in each scene. It just won’t open. What does it mean? What is Levee’s unspoken desire to leave, almost a habit, a knee-jerk reaction that becomes a habit? These are the questions and observations a thespian is given when they see a beat, a moment like this. It is rich and full of more than what one person can perceive. It requires dissection. The tensions seem so small but through the screen, they hit like a dagger, as a Black person, it hits like a ton of brick full of knives. You understand the strain and stress, but that is the blues.

The performances allow each word to hit the cement, displaying every piece of text falling ever so slowly so we understand truly what it means. Expect nothing less from the great George C. Wolfe. A director for the culture from ‘Bring in Da Noise Bring in Da Funk’ to well on past it. Wolfe can pull out the heat in a room and direct it to a furnace keeping that ish hot for the camera. No joke, each character moves with his fire, his given intention for the scene. Every actor soaked in that fever and together it made the perfect stew.

“If you are gonna tell it, tell it right.”

The cast brings a sweet and tangy flavor to the mix. Colman Domingo (Ali, Euphoria) plays Cutler, a man who has seen enough and believes faith’s what keeps him together. His performance is cool, calm, and the perception of collect, but like any August Wilson character he is shaken, and that treble can be seen out of the cracks here and there. Coleman sits in this character well and commands space at all the right times. The same can be said for his bandmates. Glynn Turman playing Toledo brings generational thought and presence to the film. His effortless delivery and vulnerability will sweep your heart away. Michael Potts playing Slow Drag, our bassist of the group, lays down the foundation for each scene. He is the stock and ham hock of the stew. Ma Rainey is the spoon, the sauce, the drippings, and the pot on the kettle. Viola Davis’s performance made me want to cut myself a switch, her glare was the backhand of every one of my ancestors, I was sweating! She dug deep into her ancestral memory to pull out 7 generations behind herself to the forefront. Glistening in the power, she stood with a hand on a hip and a firm flat foot pointed at her target. You know that stance so you better just do what she says.

Davis’ portrayal whips you into shape and scolds you forever forgetting the intelligence, sharp wit, and power of a Black woman. Her poignant speech about silence has your thoughts swimming; it’s in her delivery and in the direction that you see the spark in between her teeth lighting your inner conversation. The character talks about being used and finding the power in the moments before they throw you away. You’re proud but it is a painful type of pride.

“This be an empty world without the blues.”

Having not read the play, every turn was like a surprise. Boseman was dancing across the scene, and I tried to keep up. He is the new cat to this old alley of a band, trying to swing the notes to a new beat. He is unrecognized for his time, too ahead of it for them, and Ma ain’t having it.

His infectious smile told the story of Levee but his story at the same time the mark of an extraordinary talent flying in his element. I wish he were here to receive this praise, and I wish he were here to bless us with more.

We bear witness to Chadwick’s soul in this piece. He performed like a man whose life belonged to the script, and his bones made from the brick and mortar of the stage. His tears fell like more than what they seemed. Knowing what he was enduring does add a layer but even without that knowledge, it’s beyond this world what he does with this character. He becomes the thorn of the piece and shocks you right through the end.

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom is a beautiful piece of film that captures the root of theater and the very gut of Blues. Boseman and Davis give the performances of their lives and honor the spirit of all those brought forward in this piece.

Source: blacknerdproblems.com

Every language is complete on its own. All languages help their users to fully express themselves, interact with others and communicate daily. They can represent the social and political; historical and religious; traditional and cultural, etc. constructs of their respective speakers. In this regard, all languages are equal and complete. However, when we consider the linguistic features, the scientific/technological advancement, the semantic, syntactic, and phonological richness, etc. of the languages, some languages can be richer, more advanced, and more complex than others.

English language for example, has amassed so many words and semantics from the rest of the world’s languages. It has been a language of politics (as British used to be the colonizer of many parts of the world), and it has also been used as a language of international trade/business and education. For these reasons, English has proven itself as the most advanced, the most complex and the most widely used language of all other world languages.

English: A Crazy Language?

Yet, English is often referred to as the crazy language by most, including the native speakers because it is full of exceptions and contradicting rules. Above all, it is phonologically so limited. Sounds are made from the single and/or combined use of only the 26 alphabet letters. As a result, there are so many sounds that are foreign to English speakers.

Amharic, a major Ethiopian language, in contrast, has most of (if not all of) the possible sounds that we humans can make. It has only 34 base letters and each one of them has six variants (seven including themselves) which will make the total number of the alphabet letters 238. Each of these 238 letters are distinct and complete sound units or phonemes. In English there are only 44 phonemes or sounds.

Compare how Amharic is richer and English is so limited! This limitation makes learning other/foreign languages difficult for the (English) native speakers. For Amharic speakers, however, no sound or pronunciation will be difficult to produce, except the English “th” pronounced in two different ways as /ð/ and /θ/. Even these sounds are so close to our “ዘ” and “ዝ”.

That means, Amharic is easier than other languages (it’s not to generalize but I am writing this article by having the other languages I learned at school – English and French, as reference), and conversely Amharic speakers are advantageous for learning other/foreign languages. Because Amharic is a phonemic language, pronunciation and spelling are not problematic. Learners or users can read what they see written and can write as exactly as they hear or say. Spelling and pronunciation in English and most other languages (for instance in English and French – the languages I know) are too complex and unpredictable!

Capitalization is another language feature which is irrelevant in Amharic. So, for people who find the Amharic alphabet letters as too many, let them add the upper case and lower-case English letters. They are 52 English letters. Using them appropriately is another hurdle for learners of English.

Critically speaking, shapes of the letters have nothing to do with the meaning creation or semantic process in the words they are used. It rather is just a form which adds to the complication of the language for users and learners.

Pluralization in English is another intricate feature. In Amharic, it is so straightforward. In English, it could be fine if it were only adding ‘-s’, ‘-es’ or ‘-ies’ to singular nouns but there is also another set of nouns collectively known as irregular nouns which are pluralized in a lot of different ways.

In Amharic, you add “-ዎች/-woch/och”, “-ች/-ch/och”, or “-ያን/ናን/-ian/nan” depending on the type of the ending sound of the noun and by making a modification to the final letter/sound.

Amharic the Semitic Language

Amharic is a Semitic language written from left to right, unlike its sister Semitic languages – Arabic, and Hebrew which are written right to left. Its history as a written language goes back as far as the 14th century or earlier. Since then, it has accumulated rich written knowledge and literature.

Its writing system is so unique to itself. Only a few Ethiopian languages (Geez – probably its mother language, Tigrigna/Tigre, Guragigna, and other Ethiopian languages) share its alphabet or writing system.

Its speakers are mainly about 50/60% of Ethiopians (as both first and second language speakers) in Ethiopia and abroad. And the world hasn’t known much about this language with these and potentially other world class linguistic features – and above all learner-friendly features!

*You can contact Amlaku Eshetie via LinkedIn at amharicethiopiakhaabamlaku and Twitter @amlakube