The voyage of the slave people from the African continent through the trans-Atlantic ocean into the Americas, was a passage of unimaginable genocidal crimes recorded in the history of the struggles of humanity. The long journey of the middle passage was a chronicle of untold forms of heinous crimes against humanity.
Scholarly research and historical attributions attest that in the history of human civilisation, there were no such crimes against humanity, of the magnitude of the extermination of the indigenous people of the Americas and enslavement of the people of the African continent. The slave trade remains a hallmark of a testimony of unprecedented crimes inflicted on the African people by European superpowers.
For a period of over four centuries, an estimated number of more than thirty million indigenous people of Americas were exterminated and more than hundred million people from the African continent forced into slavery. Of the total number of people abducted from the African continent, an estimated number of forty million reached the shores of the American hemisphere whilst sixty million perished through the valley of death of the middle passage.
In the slanderous hands of their masters, they were chained like animals on the legs, arms and necks, suffering the worst forms of torture, rape, famine, disease and genocide. The sick were thrown overboard into the sea by the captains of the ship, so that to cover their loss from insurance and those who tried to revolt were ambulated and forced to eat their own flesh.
The prolific writer, Phillis Wheatley, the first African slave to publish a book, condemned slave owners as modern Egyptians, making comparisons between the enslaved Africans and the Hebrews of the Old Testament. In her book, On Being Brought from Africa to America, she says the following:
“’Twas mercy brought me from Pagan land,
Taught my benighted soul to understand,
That there’s a God, that there’s a Saviour too,
Once I redemption neither sought nor knew,
Some view our sable race with scornful eye,
‘Their colour is a diabolic die’,
Remember, Christians, Negros, black as Cain,
May be refin’d, and join th’ angelic train…”
In his autobiography, the African slave Olaudah Equiano, says the following about the horrors of the trans-Atlantic crossings:
“When I looked round the ship too and saw a large furnace of copper boiling, and a multitude of black people of every description chained together, every one of their countenances expressing dejection and sorrow, I no longer doubted of my fate and quite overpowered with horror and anguish, I fell motionless on the deck and fainted, I asked if we were not to be eaten by those white men with horrible looks, red faces and long hair.”
He further says:
“The closeness of the place, and the heat of the climate, added to the number in the ship, which was so crowded that each had scarcely room to turn himself, almost suffocated us. This wretched situation was again aggravated by the galling of the chains, now become insupportable; and the filth of the necessary tubs, into which the children often fell, and were almost suffocated. The shrieks of the women, and the groans of the dying, rendered the whole a scene of horror almost inconceivable.”
During the plenary session of the United Nations General Assembly, to commemorate the two hundredth anniversary of the end of the trans- Atlantic slave trade, speaking on behalf of the African group of states, the South African Ambassador to the United Nations, Comrade Dumisani Kumalo, said the following:
“Up to this day, the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, are said to remain dark and murky, with the blood of Africans stolen all along the western coast, as far south as the windy coast of Namibia and all the way to the dry shores of the Sahara.”
The European imperialism established a lucrative slave trade route throughout the regions of the African continent, from the shores of Mozambique to Angola, from the Congo Basin to the north and west coasts of Africa and from the Sahel region to the Horn of Africa. Our continent was turned into a field of harvesting human cargo to serve the interests of colonial powers.
It is for this reason that we dedicate the victory of our glorious movement, the African National Congress, in the coming national general elections, to the heroism of the slave people of La Amistad ship. Theirs is a novel of remarkable history of relentless struggles, which has today become a testament, that humanity is capable of overcoming obstacles which seem to be insurmountable.
We dedicate the decisive victory of the ANC to the heroes and heroines of the slave people of La Amistad ship, whose contribution to the treasure- store of human civilisation, continues to shape and broaden the horizons of the very future which is still to come. The future of the freedom of humanity which is not just a necessity but the most fundamental desire.
During the year 1841 fifty three African slaves abducted from the present day Republic of Sierra Leone, destined to work at the sugar plantations in Cuba, revolted against the masters of the crew, taking control of the ship, and redirecting it back home to the African continent. The group was captured and arrested by the US coast guards, who charged them with murder and conspiracy to escape from their masters.
The 6th President of the United States of America, Mr John Quincy Adams, who after his term of office worked as a legal practitioner, saw it necessary to represent them in the supreme court of appeal, where he won the legal battle, restoring the freedom of the slave people and their right to return back to their mother continent. This was unprecedented in the history of the barbaric middle passage of slavery across the Atlantic Ocean.
President John Quincy Adams, stands before the rostrum of generations of man, as amongst those of the few, who have changed what the past history could not change. He demonstrated to the world that true generosity is the human heart, becoming a source of light to the hopeless, by standing in support of the freedom and dignity of the slave people.
It was indeed the first time in the history of the dark age, that slave people survived the worst forms of human terror of genocide and extermination and returned to their country as free men and women. Their heroism exemplifies the highest standards of resilience of true human spirit of solidarity and internationalism.
We proudly count the heroes and heroines of La Amistad ship as pioneers of the modern age of humanity, versatile giants who waged protracted struggles against the powerful forces of imperialism and colonialism. Their selfless contribution to our struggles for freedom and equality, is a signpost of the greatest moment in the history of the human development.
The beautiful episode of the history of the slave people of the La Amistad ship, is a testimony that the desire for peace, freedom and equality, has been the principal assignment of millenniums. What remains is how the world community of nations spare humanity from acts of further destruction.
Definitely, this will depend on how the civilised world, free itself from the ravages of barbarism, holocaust, genocide and all other forms of political and social manifestations, which seek to gravitate humanity into a brink of catastrophe. The world has the responsibility to stop the carnage of conflicts and genocide in Palestine, Myanmar, Sudan, Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, Russia and Ukraine, Syria, Iraq and many other parts.
Throughout history since the early 1990s, the ANC has been part of the common effort of humanity, to build a world of solidarity and internationalism. The ANC continues to be part of the forces of progress to build a better world of peace and stability.
We believe the coarse of history depends on those determined to make the world a better place for all, expanding on the fortitudes of the frontiers of liberty, peace and tranquility. We believe the future belongs to those with great enthusiasm to be true to the aspirations of humanity.
The struggles of the heroes and heroines of the slave people of La Amistad ship, represents the greatest feats of the triumph of humanity over adversity. They could not change history but have changed our future.
As we paraphrase William Shakespeare, who in his play, “Much ado about nothing”, wrote the following: “He has borne himself beyond the promise of his age, doing the feats of a lion”. Indeed the slave people of La Amistad ship, borne themselves beyond the promise of their age, doing the feats of a lion.
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Ambassador Phatse Justice Piitso is a member of the ANC and the SACP, writing this article in his personal capacity.