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SURVIVORS!
Posted On 08/28/2008 16:31:14 by sandrine
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Started in the 16th century
The white man came and took us
Held us captive
And did not let us go.
They captured more than 10 millions of us from Central and Western Africa
We did not know each other
We did not know where we were going
We knew nothing. They put us in large ships. With no space to stretch our legs and arms
They force fed us when we did not want to eat They made us dance onboard for exercise.
Fatal diseases killed our friends
Some of us could not take it anymore
We simply jumped overboard to end our lives. By the end of the Middle Passage, which took nearly 2 and a half months, about 2 million of our friends were deceased.
When the Middle Passage finished we were transported to new places
Places we did not know about-Places like USA, Britain, Brazil and the Caribbean
We were strangers in these places.
We were cleaned up and polished
Then we were sold
Sold to other families that we did not know.
We were alone, separated from our loved ones. We worked in plantations Producing Sugar, Coffee, Cotton, and Tobacco
Then they got transported to Britain
Where they got sold.
Eventually, some of our friends got tired
Of being in bondage
And we campaigned
Some of the white people campaigned with us. Some of our friends who campaigned for our freedom
Were Olaudah Equiano who was an ex-slave
and William Wilberforce who was one of the slave capturers.
Together with so many other people,
The year 1807 brought about the emancipation of the black people.
Although this did not happen immediately in the same year,
It was a very good start
Now, 200 years onwards We are free!
Not because the white man wanted us to be free
But because we fought for our freedom;
Because we trusted and believed that God would set us free from the chains that held us
And Because we are survivors!
Tags: Africa Slave Trade Poem
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