Category: Un-silencing the Past

After reading Freedom Papers by Rebecca Scott and Jean Hebrard, I began researching biographies of other West Africans who were captured and brought to the Caribbean also around the turn of the (19^th) century. One interesting figure came up that had many similarities. Abu Bakr al-Siddiq was, like Rosalie, captured from Western Africa as a young person, around the age of 14, and may have had a similar experience in several respects. You can see her region of Futa Turo farther west between the Senegal and Gambia Rivers, which you can compare to his birthplace and travels  over land from Timbuku to Ashanti.

Map (Source)

Bakr was captured several years after Rosalie, however, and transported on an English slave ship in 1804, just 3 years prior to Parliament’s 1807 abolition of slave trade.

In contrast to Rosalie, Bakr’s movements are much more documented, since the record we have for him comes from a self written autobiography. For the historian, the record available is much less fragmented and more continuous. In addition his life story was less fragmented and more continuous, as he remained on the one island, Jamaica, until the time he was legally freed in Britain’s 1833 Emancipaion Act. He did, however, have many travels in Africa both before his capture and later after his legal emancipation.

Bakr’s autobiography was translated into English from his original writing in Arabic; first himself in 1834, and then professionally translated in 1835. (During his time as a slave in the “New World” he learned to speak English but he wrote only in his native Arabic, so his own verbal translation was recorded by a scribe).

You can access the full text in English of his own autobiography online here (begin at page 157). Prior to this text is a summary of his biography by modern historian Ivor Wilks (p. 152-157).

Childhood

Abu Bakr al-Siddiq was born in Timbuktu around 1790. (Curtin, 157) His father was named Kara Musa (157), and mother was named Hafsa (159). He spent his early life in Jenne (153,165), and much of his education in Buona (165).

Map (Source)

At age 9, after the death of his father, his tutor first considered arranging for him to a pilgrimage (hajj), and then instead brought him on a long journey to Buona, after learning of master educators there. Considering the number of miles from Timbuktu to Buona, and the speed of travel with animals or on foot, one can imagine this trip was broken up into small segments. This was typical of travel in this time period. For example, an essential Muslim sacrament is the pilgrimage to Mecca. That trip was one which was very typically broken up into many small trips over many years of one’s life.

In Bakr’s own incredible story of travel, in his case, for the sake of his education: “before reaching the age of nine, he had traveled with his tutor more than 600 miles. Then he spent a year in Kong, and went to Bouna for further education.” (Source) “In all these places, he had relatives and in-laws. One historian  “remarked humorously that belonging to Islam was like belonging to a touring club”  (Goody 1968:240, quoted here )

The Ashanti province ,where Buona was located, had faced civil and political upheaval in the first several years of the 19th century, especially beginning with the 1801 deposition of Osei Kwame, leader of the province, one reason for which was “his inclination to establish the Korannic law for the civil code of the empire”. Many rebelled against his overthrow, and they were gradually defeated by the Ashanti government over three years. At one of the last battles in 1804, the Ashanti representative in the city Bonduku defeated the rebel forces in control of Bouna. In the midst of this battle, Bakr was imprisoned. Bakr walked as a prisoner carrying heavy packs on his back via the “old slave route” from Bouna, to Bonduku, to Kumasi, and finally to Lago, at the coast. He was sold around 1805 to an English ship. (Curtin, 154)

Education

He was highly educated in Bouna and studied mostly the Koran. Due to his youth he had not yet progressed to other subjects such as math and rhetoric (Curtin, 153).

In his later life, there were several remarks of surprise at the extremely high level of his education, especially for someone who was captured and enslaved unable to continue his education past the time he was 14.

Documentation

The primary information for Bakr comes from the autobiography he wrote, and from letters sent between him and another freedperson in Jamaica after the abolition of slavery. The two men were put in touch by English magistrates who were to help oversee the end of slavery. It seems they knew them both personally and encouraged them to write each other because they were both highly educated speakers and writers of Arabic.

If he hadn’t been so highly learned and highly literate. we may never have this information about him, for a double reason: the magistrate may have never noticed him to take a particular interest in him, which is what may have kept these writings protected; and secondly he would have never written it

Historical Significance

Ironically, if it weren’t for the fact that Bakr had been kidnapped and taken as a slave; then freed while in Jamaica; we would have had, ironically, much less documentation about many of the areas, locations, traditions, names of family members and tribal leaders, religious leaders, and formal institutions of the region he came from.

For example the educational institution he studied at in Buouna was otherwise known by only indirect evidence from surviving works of scholarship produced from that specific region during that time, suggesting a center of learning in this area, and from one obscure reference to the “center for learning” there, referenced by Barth (Curtin, 153)

it was “known only from Barth’s short reference to it, as ‘a place of great celebrity for its learning and schools, in the countries of the Mohammedan Mandingoes to the south’ ” (153)

Sources

Curtin, Philip, Africa remembered [electronic resource] : narratives by West Africans from the era of the slave trade

Şaul, Mahir, Islam and West African Anthropology

History tends to forget the masses. In remembering past events, stories, and antecedents, we seek out the faces of inspiring leaders and monumental figures we can put on mountains and quickly associate with particular eras, ideologies, and groups. In doing so, however, we silence the stories and contributions of the ordinary person. For instance, the narrative of the black American civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s proudly proclaims the stories of Ella Baker, Rosa Parks, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Malcolm X, while not completely acknowledging and exalting the efforts of the thousands who marched, boycotted, and otherwise supported and drove the civil rights effort to fruition.

Similarly, Joseph Louw, a South African photographer and a contemporary of these great historical figures, fell into the desire to capture these narratives. Upon graduating from Columbia University, he found work for the Public Broadcasting Laboratory (PBL), a television series created by the National Educational Television (NET). As a young photographer, he had the unique privilege of being asked to follow Dr. King to document images for a documentary PBL was creating about Dr. King. In addition to this once in a lifetime opportunity to interact with one of the great and influential leaders of all time, he was stationed with Dr. King and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) as they organized the Poor People’s Campaign. Louw was given a platform to interact and communicate with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. about his past approach to gaining civil rights for black Americans as well as witness firsthand the initiation of the economic “chapter” of the fight for equality. While history books and many today see Dr. King’s message as a message of nonviolence and black equality, this part of his message is an interestingly relatively unknown final caveat, even preaching that this campaign was “the beginning of a new co-operation, understanding, and a determination by poor people of all colors and backgrounds to assert and win their right to a decent life and respect for their culture and dignity.”

Joseph Louw was there in the midst of it all. On April 4, 1968, the night of the assassination, he was in his motel room a few doors down from Dr. King’s. Having finished eating dinner early, he chose to watch a television broadcast, which was showing footage from Martin Luther King Jr’s “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech from the day before, most notable for its call for pan-Africanism and his declaration that he was ready to die. See: https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkivebeentothemountaintop.htm Little did Louw know that that would be his final speech, a fitting end to the brave life of a great leader.

Just as the news broadcast ended, Louw heard a loud noise. He ran outside to the balcony to find chaos. Dr. King’s body was on the floor, four men kneeled and stood beside him, pointing at the direction of the assailant. Deeply impacted by the horrific scene in front of him, Louw later recounted that he could only think of the horror of the incident and the necessity of recording the incident with a photograph for the whole world to see. At that moment, he took the iconic photo and took several other photographs following the attack, including photos of armed policemen rushing to the scene, ambulance workers attending to the mortally wounded Dr. King, and grief-stricken civil rights workers in the aftermath of the assassination. See: https://www.icp.org/browse/archive/constituents/joseph-louw?all/all/all/all/0

Following the assassination, Louw went back to New York where PBL was based to develop his rolls of film. His photos soon became some of the most widely recognized and most powerful images captured of the civil rights movement. The media response was nearly immediate, with PBL airing the incomplete and unfinished documentary with Louw’s eyewitness testimony. See: https://www.thirteen.org/blog-post/mlk-assassination-the-story-behind-the-photo/

Louw’s contributions to history include the photographs he took, the media response to Dr. King’s assassination, as well as valuable insights on what it was like to be with Dr. King in his final days. To conclude, Louw nobly decided that any revenue from the photographs he took from the night of the assassination would be contributed to organizations whose missions aligned with the message and work of the late Dr. King.

Zulia Mena is a remarkable Afro-Colombian community leader and government official who has dedicated her life to the organization of Western Colombian black and rural communities with the goal of achieving social, cultural, and economic justice.

Zulia Mena, Afro-Colombian Trailblazer

Mena was born in the Campo Bonito neighborhood of the Colombian municipality of Quibdo on November 21^st, 1965 to a large, humble peasant family. Since, she has called this predominantly black town, located in the rural Choco state, her home. There, Mena graduated from an all-female high school, the Integrated Feminine Institute of Quibdo. She went on to successfully pursue a Bachelor’s Degree in social work with a concentration in social management from the Choco Technical University Diego Luis Cordoba. She obtained a Master’s in territorial and community management from the Inter-American Institute for Social Development (INDES) in Washington, D.C., United States.

Mena’s work as an organizer began in 1982, starting to mobilize rural communities. In 1988, she founded the Organización de Barrios Populares y Comunidades Campesinas de la Costa Pacifica del Choco – an organization that brought together poor and farming communities from the Colombian Pacific Coast. This organization was mainly formed by black families, reaching a total membership of 7,000 families at a point. Their goal is the defense of their territorial, cultural, economic, social, and political rights as a black ethnic group. Most importantly, the organization has provided a new pathway to leadership for Afro-Colombian women through different empowerment events that seek to legitimize their position in society in the eyes of the local and state governments.               To achieve this, their work has ranged from making presence at local city council meetings to holding sit-ins in different state buildings.

Mena was key to the political mobilization of black Colombians that led to the inclusion of black rights in the Colombian constitution reform process of 1991. Due to her work, she was named as the Choco’s Special Commissioner tasked with defining the legal framework for article 55 in the constitution, which established clearly delineated rights for Afro-Colombian communities such as rights to property, identity and cultural protection, and economic and social advancement. This eventually led to the passage and implementation of the 1993 Law 70, or Ley of Negritudes (Law of the Blacks), which officially recognized Afro-Colombian territorial rights.

From 1994 to 1998, Mena served as an elected member of the Colombian House of Representatives, becoming the first person to serve the specially-defined, national Afro-Colombian district. In 2003, she founded the Colombian council of Black Women (COMUN). In 2005, she co-founded the Ethnic Movement of Black Women. During this time, she served her community in different capacities, working as an advisor to local and state elected officials and government boards as well as a Professor at her alma mater.

On October 30^th, 2011 Mena was elected as Mayor of Quibdo as a candidate of the progressive Radical Change party. She earned a seven-point margin over her nearest competitor. In her acceptance speech, Mena promised to bring people and participatory democracy to the local political process. “This is not just a personal triumph; this is a triumph for all of us,” she emphasized. Her work as Mayor focused on education, infrastructure, and social equity. In 2015, she was recognized as the second-best Mayor of Colombia, based on polling results. As Mayor, she gained national recognition by bringing-in the advice of nationally-known, high caliber advisers. Her term ended in 2015.

In 2016, Mena was named as Colombia’s Deputy Minister of Culture by then-President Juan Manuel Santos. From early on, she focused on working to eradicate poverty through culture by providing impoverished communities with public libraries, technical schools, and community centers. She served in this role until 2018.

In an interview for a digital documentary, Mena claimed that her passion to help the community originated since an early age, when she started thinking about how to improve the life condition of her own family and other similarly impoverished black families in the Choco state. Her family’s support has also been critical to her work in the community. Her mom pointed to the importance of her education in allowing her and her sisters to have a better future. On the other hand, her dad claimed to fear for her life, stating that “in Choco, those who are trying to help the poor are never safe.”

These fears materialized when, in 2018, the Colombian Attorney General’s office ordered the arrest of Mena on corruption charges. Mena, and members of her administration as Mayor, were accused of violating the Contract Law when wrongly assigning contracts during the planning of the 20^th National Games in 2015. Mena was quickly freed, but was banned from being able to run for office for the next ten years.

Johnny Spain is a father, a son, an activist, a professor and, above all, a man with a story– a story that begins long before his incarceration in the San Quentin State Prison. One of the six men accused of a murder/escape ploy at San Quentin State Prison on August 21, 1971, Johnny Larry Armstrong is most well-known for his role in the San Quentin Six. The trial itself took place in 1975 and was dubbed the longest trial in the history California at the time, spanning 16 months and costing more than 2 million dollars. It is alleged that George Jackson, a prominent Black Panther figure of the time, was the mastermind behind the attempted escape of San Quentin and it was because of his attempt to escape that five other black and brown men were also implicated in their alleged involvement. Out of the five (George Jackson had been killed during the commotion of his attempted escape) Spain was the only to be convicted of two counts of first-degree murder. Spain ensures that he had no part in the murder of the two guards, but rather that he was in fact targeted only because of his political and social involvement with the Black Panther Party (Anderson, “Black Power, White Blood” ch. 12). Because of legal inconsistencies (Spain being shackled and forced to be absent during his 1977 trial), Federal District Judge Thelton Henderson overturned Spain’s conviction. Originally, Spain had been in prison convicted of first-degree murder and serving a life term because of the murder of Joe Long, a man who Spain, with a few friends, decided to rob. Spain shot Joe Long four times in the chest and served 21 years in prison for his crime. Spain was released from prison in 1988 because he had been granted parole (Anderson, “BP, WB” 71).

Before for the incarceration, before the trials, before the conspiracies, Johnny Spain was just a mixed-race American boy growing up in the 50s and 60s within a complicated familial household. Johnny Spain was born in Jackson, Mississippi in 1949 to his white mother Ann Armstrong and to his black father Arthur Cummings. Ann Armstrong was married to Fred Armstrong, a white man, when Spain was born. Johnny Spain has not always been Johnny Spain. Spain was born with the name Larry Armstrong. Larry Armstrong was a white child. He was a child that had darker skin than his neighborhood friends, he was a child whose identity his white father questioned, he was a child that learned about himself through the ridicule of his hair. It was when his own brother, his white brother, called him a nigger that Larry understood his race to be more than what his parents, particularly his mother, had led him to believe. Larry Armstrong’s childhood was shaped by a duality wrought with tension. He was almost accepted in his community, he was almost a part of the Armstrong family, he was almost white if only it hadn’t been for his hair. Amongst Jackson community members, criticisms and speculations of scandal within the Armstrong household rose. When Larry was six years old, Fred Armstrong was made aware by a friend of his that Larry was indeed black. That night, Fred went home to confirm his suspicions with his wife Ann and she told him that, indeed, his speculations were reality. Spain says that he doesn’t remember much from his childhood in the Armstrong household but he does remember when his father would abuse his mother and scream at her to get that black child out of his home. Ann Armstrong conceded to her husband’s orders and, suddenly, Larry was being sent to live with a black couple in California. In Mississippi, Larry Armstrong was a white child, but in California Larry, who would become Johnny, became a black child.

Larry was sent to live with John and Helen Spain. John was an electrician and Helen, a mixed-race woman herself, was a cook and a caterer. Ann had entrusted Larry to these two people because they were a hard-working black couple that she felt would give her son the love that he deserved. Unfortunately for Larry, that was not the case. The Spains loved Johnny very much, but showed him their love only superficially, showering him with gifts and toys and expensive clothes. Their relationship was broken and missing that fundamental trait of parental love. Yet, there was affection there. He never thought of Helen as his mother nor did he feel that Ann was his mother. Johnny was a motherless child. With John Spain though, Larry had a much closer relationship, so close that he decided to don his father’s name therefore changing his name to Johnny Larry Spain. The Spain household was primarily comprised of Johnny, John, and Helen, but Helen’s mother, Mary Davis, lived behind their house and it was with her that Johnny had the most loving relationship. In an interview with Esquire, Spain said that Mary was “sweet; she smelled of fresh cooking; she always had time for him.” It was Mary’s death that sent Spain into a downward spiral. After she was taken away from their home, Spain took to the streets. It was then that Johnny’s life would never be the same.

Consulted:

Andrews, Lori B. Black Power, White Blood: The Life and Times of Johnny Spain. Temple University Press, 1999.

You’ve probably seen the video of a conversation between the poet Nikki Giovanni and writer James Baldwin circulating the internet.  In this short clip,  they argue about relationships between men and women in the black community. The conversation is candid, and in 2019 we are left grateful that such an intimate conversation between two legends is available for us to view more than 50 years later. However, what was not made known was the dynamic man responsible for such a public viewing of this dialogue; his name was Ellis Haizlip.

Ellis Haizlip was the creator and host of the TV show, Soul!, which was broadcast by WNET (now known as THIRTEEN) in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Haizlip joined WNET as the first black TV producer, and then went on to become the first black television host when Soul! first premiered in 1968. The show was groundbreaking because it was the first of its kind to give such a large platform to the display and discussion of black cultural forms like, music, visual arts, literature, as well as conversations about black political thought. Haizlip’s Soul! provided some of the largest stages to artists like Nikki Giovanni, Sidney Poitier, and the band, Earth, Wind & Fire. He even helped jumpstart the careers of the wife and husband  recording duo,  Ashford & Simpson, who he allowed to perform on the show before the release of their first album.

Haizlip was a black gay man, and therefore garnered criticism from individuals both inside and out of the black community about his sexuality. Devoted to representing the span of black political consciousness on his show, he frequently invited guests who he knew where anti-LGBTQ, for example, the leader of the Nation of Islam, Louis Farrakhan, and challenged them to expand on their notion of ‘community’ and reckon with their own homophobia, and how it compromised their radical politics.

Haizlip’s Soul! demonstrated to the whole world the dynamism that existed in black culture and politics through the variety of guests he brought onto the show. Unfortunately, because Soul! was a publicly funded program, it was at the whim of the changing discourses around race in this country. When Richard Nixon became president in 1969, the pressure to integrate the show, meaning inviting white guests, threatened the show. The Corporation for Public  Broadcasting believed that a public show targeted to Black Americans was a “hindrance” to racial progress. On March 7, 1973, Soul! aired for the last time.

Despite Haizlip’s heavy involvement in the production of art before and during the Black Arts Movement,  time has placed the details of his life into relative obscurity. What we have left mostly are the memories and testimonies of his friends.

Little is known about Haizlip’s early years, but based on interviews with his friends, he was born on September 17, 1929  in  Washington D.C., and spent a significant part of his life there. He graduated from Howard University in 1954.  While he was in college, he was greatly involved in the arts, and he was the producer of the Howard Players in the school’s Department of Theatre Arts.

After college, he made the challenging move to New York City to advance his career in the Arts. Before Soul!, Haizlip produced shows and organized art festivals for the likes of James Baldwin, Cicely Tyson, and James Earl Jones. He also worked at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. One of his most well known accomplishments was the production of a 12-day Black arts festival called, “Soul at the Center,” which took place at the Lincoln Center in Manhattan in 1972 and 1973.  He soon grew as a mentor and friend of many artists during the Black Arts Movement.

Many of his friends admired his “encyclopedic” knowledge of African-American arts and culture, expressing that he was well-connected with all the major “key players” of the movement.

An executive producer of the Soul!, Christopher Lukas, describes his experience following Haizlap all throughout the city.

“Inside, Ellis was passionate about the need for change, but his exterior always remained cool. And dressed cool.” It was no doubt that this calm and collected demeanor made him a social butterfly, and a man that was well respected in the Black arts community.

Few people think of Ellis Haizlip when they think of Black art in the 1960s and 1970s, but he was in many ways, a significant backbone of the production of art and performance during the Black Arts Movement.

He died in 1991 from lung cancer. He was 61 years old.

Last year, his niece, Melissa Haizlip pulled together old interviews to create her documentary, Mr. SOUL!, to call to attention the uncelebrated life of  Black American figure, Ellis Haizlip.

Morgan Jerkins, Princeton Class of 2014, is an American born author currently based in New York City. With a bachelor’s degree in comparative literature from Princeton University and a Master of Fine Arts in Writing and Literature from the Bennington Writing Seminars, Jerkins stands as an up-and-comer in both the world of literature and activism.

Shifting from her undergraduate scholarly work, specialized in late nineteenth century Russian literature and post-war Japanese literature, her New York Times Bestselling novel, This Will Be My Undoing focuses on the distinctions of Living at the Intersection of Black, Female, and Feminist in (White) America. Over 10 essays, Jerkins writes about milestones in her life, such as her first brushes with racism, the politics of black women’s hair, traveling abroad while black, and the importance of former First Lady Michelle Obama in shaping her view of strong Black women in the media. She describes her undergraduate years at Princeton with a wistful fondness, journaling the experiences that shaped her sensibility as a writer and prepared her for the challenges of young adulthood in New York City. In her novel Jerkins interweaves her incisive commentary on pop culture, feminism, black history, misogyny, and racism with her own experiences to confront the very real challenges of being a black woman today.

As per the first essay in This Will Be My Undoing, Jerkins’ complicated relationship with race began at the young age of 10-years-old. In the essay, titled “Monkeys Like You,” Jerkins describes the cheerleading tryouts she attended as a pre-teen. Upon arrival, she committed to the strenuous routines and forced herself to smile at older White judges, who seemed to be amused by her enthusiasm. However, despite her committed efforts, she did not make the team. She was forced to confront her feelings about the giddy reception awaiting young white women who “simply have to show up and try.” On the one hand, she disclosed her desire to be a white cheerleader with straight hair and a svelte body, in order to feel an increased sense of acceptance and appreciation, yet on the other was filled with both anger and rage as a ‘friend’ told her that she didn’t make the squad because they “didn’t accept monkeys like [her].” While a moment she would analyze for years, this occasion stands as an experience that would not only shape Jerkins’ perception of herself but also the ways in which that perception was shaped by others.

Flashing forward to her high school years, Jerkins’ relationship with other Black women was further complicated. Upon relocating from Egg Harbor Township to Williamston in New Jersey, Jerkins encountered two Black girls who decided to make her the subject of relentless bullying. While addressing the identity of her bullies, and the differences between them and herself, Jerkins attributes this period of bullying towards the “violence [black women] hurl at one another.” While a victim of it, in “Monkeys Like You” Jerkins is also able to acknowledge her role in shaping the Black girl experience. She describes one of her bullies as brash, cocky, and loud while portraying herself as quiet and bookish. In other words, Jerkins viewed herself as better than her bully, whether as a result of her lighter skin tone, education, or general well-mannered behavior. However, as an adult publishing these experiences, Jerkins is able to acknowledge that these things do not warrant the kind of arrogance and anti-blackness she felt towards her bullies in high school.

In the last stage before pursuing the life of an author, Jerkins’ period as an undergraduate student was filled with personal growth in terms of academics, culture, and politics. As a comparative literature student, she was reminded that everything has two sides, there is no objective truth, a realization that would shape her ability to write a novel that tackles intersectionality from its many perspectives. Further, in meeting new people, with many different viewpoints, Jerkins’ learned about misogynoir, the hatred of black women, as well as the ever-flowing gender binary. Finally, knowing the historical precedent of African-Americans who had navigated the ultra-exclusive place that the University holds in society motivated her to succeed and to hold herself accountable for her actions. Being almost painfully conscious of the privilege that attending the University confers on its students Jerkins’ felt an obligation to incorporate into her work how educational privilege works.

That, the consciousness of her role as an author, is what makes Morgan Jerkins and individual worthy of further exploring. Rather than presenting her story as the story of Black women and Black experiences, Jerkins is able to acknowledge that everything she explores in This Will Be My Undoing is unique to her.  As she states, “Black women are extremely complex. Oftentimes we may be messy, we may be contradictory. With this book, I hope that people will read about one black woman’s reality and not think that she speaks for all black women because I am not the arbiter of truth, I cannot monopolize black womanhood, much less blackness.” Though adding to the conversation, as she is aware, Jerkins is only a puzzle piece in the large Black narrative.

Identify a black historical subject that does not have a Wikipedia page. This subject can be living or dead. Write a 750-1,000 word blog post about this figure. This blog post should include citations and/or hyperlinks, and may include multimedia, such as images, video, and/or audio recording. The inclusion of such multimedia does not substitute for text. Blog posts are due on Wednesday, February 20^th, and should be submitted to the class website.