Hello nairalanders

What do you guys think about this marking of abolition of slavery this month?

Do you think the mentality and psyche of black people are still affected by the aftermath of slavery?

What are suggestions , what do you think can be done to bring up young black kids, to be proud , confident people even after the 400 years of slavery,
unimaginery oppression and great, great violence.

who said slavery is over ? I still don't know what country i am from- i still use my slave master's name

slavery is not over some of us are just blind to it.

slavery is not over some of us are just blind to it.

that will surely depends on where you are

If i live in kenya or a remote village i don't think ican be accused of turning a blind eye.

Do you think the mentality and psyche of black people are still affected by the aftermath of slavery?

Yes but not all

What are suggestions , what do you think can be done to bring up young black kids, to be proud , confident people even after the 400 years of slavery,
unimaginery oppression and great, great violence.

Education Education Education and Values- hopefully not sounding like bliarr

You can judge from the response you get from this thread.

We can't discuss slavery without looking that lives of slaves and their descendants.
(unconsciously, some people think all blacks are descendants of slaves)

OUTSIDE AFRICA:
In most of Europe and America - All blacks are considered 2nd class citizens
In rest - they are made to view Africans through western lens.

IN AFRICA:
They were dumped in Freetown. (Hmm, I'm seeing a link here, dump them in Freetown, pick up ivory & other goods on the return leg, lucrative)

Others traced their origin back to their various towns and were absorbed on return. A lot of them kept their foreign surnames. But they are not looked down upon.


@ Topic

Metaphorically, Slavery turned Africans into subhumans because Africans are offsprings of a raped woman.
Africa is a very unstable place and from the western point of view, nothing good comes from there. AIDS from Africa, aids to Africa.
Africa is associated with poverty and instability.


Here is the chain of problems.

Slaves were usually prisoners of war, criminals or debtors who paid back their loans with sweat or death depending on the kind of crime committed. In some cases they were just people who disobeyed the Kings orders. Slavery grew when a market was created by the west who saw slavery as a cheap means to produce food for their countries so they can sit down and use their brains in inventing things. Think of things invented after the 16th Century. (planes, submachine guns, battle ships, war tanks, e.t,c)

Slavery brought colonization (e.g British attempt to militarily stop slavery caused them to colonize a port in Lagos, they later colonized the whole country from that little stronghold)

Colonization caused an arrested development in Africa (generaion long systems were truncated and restarted awkwardly)

This resulted in the creation on unstable states

Instability caused wars, and wars caused instabilities, and the vicious cycle was set in motion

And this is the foundation of the current mess called Africa.


This is the impact of slavery on the world
Africans will not be looked down on if only Africa becomes great and powerful.

I wonder why nigeria is going backwards instead of forward,is it lack of information of what life is all about or just lack of iq.?One will expect that with revolutionize information age,people will begin to grasp and understand what it takes to be humans.The flow of information today,supppse to catapult us from the 15th century world we are in to a 21st century real world,if we grab it.Sometimes i begin to think there are diffrences in human kind as white supremacist will like to believe,but with my experience and ability in the outside world and my ability to adapt,i think reasoning and intelligence are conditioned by the enviroment and orientation in which one is born.In nigeria and africa in general people are conditioned to to think that life is an impossible task and that problems are solved by fairys,a good a example is cleaning the enviroment,what does it take for one to know that his or her enviroment should be kept clean,common sense,but the brain has been conditioned to think that living in filth is normal,people just choose to do so at the expence of thier health,a vicious circle of madness.Go back to history,beyond Christ,real history,like the sudanese and egyptian pharoahs and civilization,their legacys are still standing today for all to see amd it shows that nothing is impossible,if people choose to do it.According to legendary FELA [SUFFER DON DABARU BLACK MAN SENSE]The brain is an organ in the body that helps you think,it's for problem solving,life without a problem is dead,master plan,something original to you,that keeps you alife,there is no excuse for ignorance,not even slavery or colonialism,ofcourse,if you can't do it someone else will do it for you,nobody is born slave or king,people choose to be what they are based on thier perception of life and pass it on.What black man is suffering now is mental slavery,just fo the mere fact that we refuse to discover,it is not going to come on a platter of gold,we have to earn it.The best teacher in life is history,look back,you will see forward.How can someone like obasanjo say that we have free and fair election with 52 people dead,anyay,looking at that guy,what i see is a NEANTHERTHAL,out of this world,just like so many other politians whose hand the country faith lies,how can you begin to imagine that if not mind revolution of the people,your wish is your command and you are your dreams and there is no limit to what your dream can be,every thing is for the grab if you go for it.

Well im glad some body brought this issue to light. First i want to say, i am an african american and i have always been proud of where i came from. It pains me that so much was taken away from me. My name, my native language, my culture, my traditions every thing. My or should i say our people were bought, sold, trade, beat, rapped, and sold again and over and over. Our language and name was beat out of us. We were nothing more than cattle. It pains me to know that some africans insult us. In doing so they are also insulting themselves. One african said we afro americans were lost property! I dont fight but im telling u if i could get my hands on that idiot! millions of ur kin were put on those ships. So why down us? why do they tear us down so. Its hard being black in america. U cant imagine. When we try to connect with our roots we are rejected. No matter how much education we have to some people we are still just niggers. I hate what happened to us but what can we do now. 400 years of pain.

Eliza704:

Well im glad some body brought this issue to light. First i want to say, i am an african american and i have always been proud of where i came from. It pains me that so much was taken away from me. My name, my native language, my culture, my traditions every thing. My or should i say our people were bought, sold, trade, beat, rapped, and sold again and over and over. Our language and name was beat out of us. We were nothing more than cattle. It pains me to know that some africans insult us. In doing so they are also insulting themselves. One african said we afro americans were lost property! I don't fight but im telling u if i could get my hands on that idiot! millions of your kin were put on those ships. So why down us? why do they tear us down so. Its hard being black in america. You can't imagine. When we try to connect with our roots we are rejected. No matter how much education we have to some people we are still just niggers. I hate what happened to us but what can we do now. 400 years of pain.

With much emotions or sentiments i can understand your concern,but you will also agree with me that most Africa descents tend to believe Africans living in the west are not their equals.A typical Jamaican here in The UK will want to see a Nigerian as a non equal,a sponger and an easy life seekers.
I am sure its a high time Africa descents should understand our oneness and some times take a prigimage trip to Africa for a fresh understanding of the Africa heritage and identity.
The 400 years of pain can be healed by having an involvement with your Africa route.It is a painful experience,an unforgettable experience,yes,we cannot change it.We can only do a part by channeling efforts and resources to make Mother Africa a better continent that we all live to cherish.
Afro Americans are not lost properties,they are only victims of circumstance.Those who thinks otherwise could be missing a vital part of the information of the Afro America history.
I will encourage you the Afro American to try and reconnect with mother Africa because thats where they belong.

My brother thats what i am trying to do. The afro americans who think they are better are just ignorant and dont know better. I have been on another site and some people were quite nasty. And im thinking why? What did we do? or what did i do for that matter. one girl said to another afroamerican girl that was dating a nigerian. "U are not nigerian, u are not african. U are just african descent. U are not a part of my culture and u will never be." to me that was nasty and uncalled for. Some of us do try to connect back but are pushed away. Who will welcome us, the people like me? As for me personally i wont rest in this life until i know all i can about my past. My feet must touch african soiled before i leave this world. I can only imagine what that day will be like.

Eliza704,
Keep up your faith,the opportunity will surely be opened.
Nigeria is a nice place to be,nice people to be with,having one or two set back must not deter your determination.
There could be some misjudgement of intentions or prejudice,they are part of human existence.Your example of not accepting a fellow AA by a Nigerian can only be understood with a better study of the western colonisation of Africa history.Especially the west Africa region was governed with the principle of Association as against the principle of Assimilation that is administered in other parts of Africa.This principle was administered because of the inherent traits of the various regions/people.

I don't get this, people were getting it wrong at the time and still are

2007 was the commemoration of the Act Abolishing the Slave Trade. It was NOT commemorating the abolition of slavery. That anniversary falls in 30 years' time.

Slavery is over and done with.
The aftermath is not severe anymore as it has been quite a while and all affected lands would have bounced back by now if they know what they are doing.

On Individual basis, the descendants living in diaspora have a better life than their counterparts starving and disease-ravaged in east africa.
Blacks even have more rights in diaspora than in Africa. (what with police manhandling and shooting people willy nilly.)
I dont see the need to hanker on the slavery issue; for how long will it be a stumbling block to anything?(10,000yrs?,20,000,1Million?

What we have now is racism and continous exploitation which can be stopped (the chinese did it).
Any current issues/problems are domestic in origin (corruption, mass muders, wars, diamond-related killings etc).

Eliza I know it is not funny but you will find that if you embrace a Nigerian ethnic group, you will still find people who will discriminate against you from another ethnic group and say you do not belong. We even do it amongst ourselves. Why do you think there is all the senseless shedding of blood in Africa. Develop a thick skin o. That is Africa for you. Do your research and when you find out who your ancestors were embrace it. Don't worry about what other people say. There are many Africans that will be happy to journey with you