#The Book of Negroes

A couple of days ago we watched the first three episodes of ‘The Book of Negroes’, which aired on #CBC. There are still three more episodes to be aired. The book was written by #Lawrence Hill and published in 2007 and has now been made into a TV series. It tells the story of a black woman; how she was captured as a little girl from her village in Africa and then taken to America, where she was sold into slavery. It is a powerful story and makes you think.

Stories about slavery are nothing new, but every story brings back the sad fact how cruel we humans are to our fellow man (or woman). ‘The Book of Negroes’ is about slavery and it is a long dark moment in the history of the United States of America. The media doesn’t let us forget the Holocaust and the atrocities Nazi Germany committed, but horrible things have been done all over our Globe. #Slavery is one of them.

Slavery has existed since the beginning of the human race on this planet. It exists to this day. Young girls forced into prostitution against their will, young men brainwashed to fight as soldiers for a cause that isn’t theirs, young women pushed into marriages with men they don’t love, children forced into labor at a young age. All those things are a form of slavery. It is estimated that there are 29.8 million persons living in slavery today, but the practice of keeping slaves goes back six thousand years to Sumeria, an ancient civilization in Mesopotamia (modern South Iraq).

Black people are not the only victims. Slavery was practiced in Ancient China, ancient India, and ancient Greece. The Romans kept slaves. The Aztecs and other indigenous peoples practiced slavery. Slavery was a legally recognized system in which people were considered the property of another. A slave had few rights and could be bought or sold and made to work for his/her owner without any choice or pay.

Throughout history the Islamic World has been involved in slavery. Christians sold Muslims captured in war as slaves. During the Middle Ages slavery was widespread in the British Isles. The Portuguese and the Spaniards are not innocent, either. In fact, no country is.

The #Vikings and the #Mongols kept slaves. I could go on and on.

‘The Book of Negroes’ is a sad story, giving us glimpses into a short period in the history of mankind and worthwhile to watch, not just as entertainment, but to make us realize how little some of us humans value the lives and the well-being of our contemporaries, even to this day.

We think we are civilized, but the veneer of civilization is thin indeed. Deep down we are still barbarians, cruel and vicious, hung up on fears, old religions, and superstitions taught to us by people with little vision. It is time we free ourselves from these shackles, evolve to the next level, throw out the teachings of outdated books and ideas and embrace each other, no matter what we believe or the color of our skin. It is a difficult and tall order, but if we don’t do it, the future for mankind looks grim.

I wish everyone peace and good will.