The hall was silent. The atmosphere was tense. Screams and wailings of children, women and men filled the air. Heads bowed in deep reflection. Some raised their eyes upwards looking at the ceiling. Many tried hard to fight back tears.
It was no funeral wake but the screening of a film, entitled: The Slave Route: The Soul of Resistance. The 36-minute documentary showed the sufferings of the era, focused on the transatlantic slave trade. It reconciled the history, influences and rationale behind the various characters involved in the era.
The screening was part of the activities marking this year’s International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic slave trade organised by the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC), Lagos, in collaboration with African Anti-Slavery Coalition (ASLAC).
This year’s theme: Forever Free: Celebrating Emancipations reechoed the age-long advocacy for freedom, especially by the victims of slavery.
As guests walked into the lecture hall, they were first confronted with the pictures and stories of some of the heroes of emancipation like Phillis Wheatley, Harriet Tubman, John Brown, Olaudah Equiano (an ex-lbo slave who was kidnapped from Isseke Village in present-day Anambra State), Frederick Douglas and more. But nothing prepared them for the film.
According to the organisers, the screening was meant to involve the young generation in the campaign against slavery. UNIC Officer in-charge, Mrs Olajumoke Araba, who read the UN chief’s speech, said: “The film paints an apt picture. And we can see that there are lessons for everybody learn from what happened during the period, especially the pupils. It is hoped that involving the young ones would ignite in them the need to carry on the fight against all forms of racism and slavery. Even though the programme fell during their examination period and when many schools are on holiday, we were glad for the ones that came. Each watched with deep concentration and I’m sure it has improved their knowledge of history.”
The era, sad as it was, produced great minds like Wheatley who became one of the most accomplished writers, it was learnt. She published her first poem at age 12. Born in Senegambia in 1753, she was sold into slavery at the age of 7 and transported to North America. She was purchased by the Wheatley family of Boston, who taught her to read and write, and encouraged her poetry when they saw her talent.
Despite the rare opportunities she had as a slave, she probably would have preferred to be free, it was said. Perhaps that is why the United Nations (UN) chief Ban Ki-moon describes slavery “as a global crime against humanity”. Wheatley and other key figures, who fought to eliminate slavery, with many losing their lives in the process, he said, are heroes and heroines of the emancipation. And the day is a tribute to the struggles of that era.
Ki-moon said: “On the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, we tell the world to never forget this global crime against humanity… As we reflect on the contemporary consequences of this tragedy, let us remember the bravery of those who risked everything for freedom and those who helped them on that perilous path.
“Their courage should inspire us as we struggle against contemporary forms of slavery, racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, and related intolerance. On this day, let us pledge to honour and restore the dignity of affected people and to intensify efforts to eliminate the slavery that persists in our world”.
Advocating through film
The film’s heartbreaking scenes of sufferings and maltreatment of African slaves not only painted a vivid picture and degradation of the era, but also buttressed Mr Olufemi Phillips, a human rights activist’s the lecture by on the theme at a forum before the screening.
Beyond the academic rigour, Philips, who is the co-founder of ASLAC, had a unique story to tell. He is a descendant of one of the victims of the transatlantic slave trade, who returned during the abolition. Reflecting on the period, he said, brought back sad memories that are better forgotten.
He recounted: “The transatlantic slave trade can never be erased from the memories of some Africans, especially those whose great-great-great-grandparents or ancestors were victims. My late great grandmother was captured during the Ogedengbe war at Ikole-Ekiti. She was a princess from lloti compound, forced to trek from Ikole-Ekiti up to Badagry coastal area, where she was sold to Brazilian slave traders that transported her and others to Bahia, Brazil. My great-grandmother survived the slavery and during the abolition of slave trade in Brazil, she returned back to West Africa where she first settled at Greenhouse present day Republic of Benin and later on traced her son’s home at 177, Igbosere Road, Lagos Island. There are many returnee slaves such as Do-Regos, De-Souza, Delfonso, Pinheiro, Da-Rocha, Jorge Campos, Da -Silva, Da-Costa, Martins, Ferreira, Pereira etc.”
He described the era as being an “ugly incident that had brought Africa back retrogressively”. He, however, lamented that unfortunately Africans are still experiencing all sorts of enslavement, noting that the worst of it is, “self-enslavement”, which he linked to bad governance. He said there is the need for all-round emancipation, while calling for a proactive approach involving the government, civil societies and the public, so that better results can be achieved.
He said: “However, it is sad that Africans are no longer sold against their will or forced into slavery but are freely giving themselves to all forms of enslavement. Every day, many, especially the young, are constantly crossing their borders to enslave themselves because of poverty. We see history repeating itself with the case of Equiano, who was kidnapped from his homeland into slavery; centuries later, nothing has changed. The place is still plagued with many cases of kidnappings.
“Young ladies are constantly being tricked into enslavement in the guise of employment. And this is the offshoot of bad governance and corruption in Africa. Africans are not enjoying the dividend of democracy that is why many are freely opting for enslavement abroad. Corruption has become a dreaded virus in our system. We, members of the civil societies, in collaboration with government, security operatives and the public, need to do more in our campaigns, to address the precedence.”
The film, he said, brought to life the pains of that period. As the audience, who were mainly pupils, history teachers, diplomats and the media, watched with mixed emotions, it was evident that scenes borrowed from diverse slavery films, such as Roots, perhaps helped to drive the plot. But unlike those films, its characters, consisting slaves (women, men and children), those born into slavery, man hunters, slave traders and more, told their sides of the story as if trying to convince the audience in a debate scenario.
The accounts of Juan, a boy born into slavery in Cuba that saw his father, who had made several escape attempts, hanged; Lala, a girl from the kingdom of Congo, was captured by man hunters while trying to gather firewood to cook dinner and Musa, who was waiting for his initiation to become a hunter like his ancestors, was captured and sold to an Arab merchant and died during the operation when he was being castrated to become a eunuch, which was very expensive in those days.
The young speak out for emancipation
At the end of the screening, guests, especially the pupils did not take the experience with a pinch of salt. Apparently moved by the film, they spoke with deep emotions against slavery.
After watching the film, Tolulope Oke, SS Three, Kings College, was heartbroken. “Going by what we saw, it was also embarrassing to see that people were treated like animals,” he said. “I asked myself: “how would they have felt then?’ It was quite heartbreaking to see an African being maltreated like that. It enlightened me more. It also taught me how to fight back when being oppressed and how to face challenges of life.”
Tofunmi Ajao, Dowen College, was enraged. She said: “Watching the film has helped me acquire more understanding of the period. I felt very sorrowful watching it. It is an experience you’d wish the whites would never start all over again for whatsoever reasons. And for some reasons, you’d wish that we could retaliate because it’s just as if they went away with it. I heard certain mitigation was made, especially financially; but money is not enough, did you see what they did; money can’t cover all the pain they caused.”
On the part of Olayemi Awolade SS2, Dowen College, the film awakened in him a sense of advocacy. “Watching the film, we saw the slavery in a different light; and that it is our time to change things and end all forms of slavery.”
For History tutor, Dowen College, Ogundeji Elijah, the film is a good teaching aid where the pupils were able to see what they were taught in class. This, he said, would give them a better understanding of how to tackle the period.
The celebrations of emancipation
In the same vein, this year’s celebration was particularly unique as it marked several global milestones in the eradication of slavery. They include the 150th year anniversary of Abraham Lincoln issuing the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing millions of African-Americans from enslavement; the 180th anniversary of the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 in the British Empire; also in 1833, slavery ended in Canada, the British West Indies and the Cape of Good Hope. Others include the Indian Slavery Act of 1843 signed some 170 years ago; in France, slavery was abolished 165 years ago; Argentina (160 years ago) and the former Dutch colonies (150 years ago), among others.
