Decade Blogs
As I appealed for
blogs to post to my #YourBlogOnMyBlog Series commemorating my Decade of Blogging Ximena offered to
write for me.
She blogs at www.stillcrazyafteralltheseyears-xim.blogspot.com
and uses the Twitter handle @madamedemadame
Written to commemorate
the International
Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition in 2010, this
is a very moving narrative of the history of the trade.
From
the borders of Eritrea,
to the oceans of Newfoundland,
my ancestors were bound,
in balls and chains.
to the oceans of Newfoundland,
my ancestors were bound,
in balls and chains.
Great
men they were,
dragged along like animals,
to a land that remained foreign to them.
dragged along like animals,
to a land that remained foreign to them.
Crossed
the seas and oceans,
and the oppressors whipped their buttocks,
and spat on their faces,
was there something wrong with their colours?
Or was it the way they said their names?
and the oppressors whipped their buttocks,
and spat on their faces,
was there something wrong with their colours?
Or was it the way they said their names?
Why
were this men evil and wicked?
Was this man's inhumanity to man?
Why were they hated so?
Had someone sold them off for a bottle of Coca-Cola and a mirror?
Was this man's inhumanity to man?
Why were they hated so?
Had someone sold them off for a bottle of Coca-Cola and a mirror?
How
so can you treat them this way,
babies, and children, the aged and the sick,
men and women as bold and,
beautiful as any of God's creation?
babies, and children, the aged and the sick,
men and women as bold and,
beautiful as any of God's creation?
Shackles
as necklaces,
cuffed they all were,
in a single file as common animals,
my ancestors were humiliated.
cuffed they all were,
in a single file as common animals,
my ancestors were humiliated.
From
the bonds of depression,
and the decades of oppression,
in capacitated against their wills,
my ancestors were sold to slavery.
and the decades of oppression,
in capacitated against their wills,
my ancestors were sold to slavery.
Dragged
round about the world,
it was unreal.
it was unreal.
Oceans
and miles apart,
a change of names they were given,
some were separated at bay,
a breastfeeding baby away from its mother.
a change of names they were given,
some were separated at bay,
a breastfeeding baby away from its mother.
In
tears they worked,
under the scorching sun, they persevered,
someday, that day would come.
under the scorching sun, they persevered,
someday, that day would come.
The
fields they ploughed till they wearied,
at night they were fed stale bread and water,
but they dare not leave,
lest they get a bullet in the skull.
at night they were fed stale bread and water,
but they dare not leave,
lest they get a bullet in the skull.
The
world was in bondage,
they had to break the shackles of oppression,
and chains of slavery,
someday, they will be free again,
one day, any day, that day they will step foot on free land.
they had to break the shackles of oppression,
and chains of slavery,
someday, they will be free again,
one day, any day, that day they will step foot on free land.
And
then one man fought so hard,
for the abolition of slavery,
in the end, he triumphed.
for the abolition of slavery,
in the end, he triumphed.
And
then suddenly the doors flung wide open,
the free breeze against their faces,
alas, the sweet smell of freedom,
free from all oppression,
from the evil and vices of men.
the free breeze against their faces,
alas, the sweet smell of freedom,
free from all oppression,
from the evil and vices of men.
Indeed, they were and are free,
free spirited,
free born.
free spirited,
free born.
Finally,
they were free - FREE AT LAST!!!
………………….
o ………………….
©
Copyright protected 23/08/2010
Ximena
at 13:13
