I've never 'got'

Ma'afa
YouTube- Ma'afa Part 1

Amongst other more little-known channels, Roots music is about the untold history of the African diaspora. Without it, the Pan-African consciousness, 'Rasta', that might be identified with the civil rights movement in the African American peoples, would not exist or be an extremely rare thing to hear of. This music is about teaching another history, not taught in schools, one that denies the Northern Europeans' enslavement of African people as a legitmate (if now discredited) 'trade', and the misplaced credit that Europeans tend to place on other Europeans having emancipated enslaved people. It wasn't Wilberforce, he was a slaver. Enslavement wasn't banned two hundred years ago, it was pushed under the carpet: British people were still enslaving in Nigeria up to the Firist War. For instance, how many people here know the names of the leaders of African insurgence against enslavment? Their history is not told to us. They are depicted as troublemakers, even now, despite the fact the we have made a play for undoing 'slavery', yet we have done no such thing. When do you ever hear of reparation? Only in Roots music and some conscious soul music, some hip hop.

In Haiti, the French colonials were chucked out, and this was the first free state of formerly enslaved people. Ever since, Haiti has been locked out of the European-American political and economic system, and is one of the poorest countries in the region. They are still being punished for getting up and standing up.

Knowing the history of how my forefathers' and foremothers' country humiliated, murdered, tortured and enslaved African peoples is really important, to me. I value the things that Roots has taught me, because it isn't taught in school, and all the more important to me for that.

Thanks for reading this.

Slavery isn't just something Europeans did to Africans. It was also something Africans did to other Africans. Doesn't matter how much they deny it, most African slaves were traded to Europeans by other Africans. Those captured in raids are generally accepted to be a minority. In a wild and unsupported bit of supposition it might well be therefore that those Africans still in Africa are more likely to be descended from enslavers than slaves. It was also of course something Europeans did to other Europeans.

Reparation you say? Paradoxically, and somewhat controversially, throughout history slavery has been a short-cut to a better life. Northern Europe and Britain were civilised much more rapidly thanks to the Romans. Should we expect reparation from Italy? Greece, the birthplace of civilisation, democracy, philosophy, science, and so much more, was built on slavery. It goes without saying that the generations that are enslaved suffer greatly, but historically their descendants often benefit from the enslavement of their ancestors. These days the descendants of the African slave trade get to live in liberal democracies in the lands of the enslavers, enjoying all the peace, rights, privileges and opportunities that that affords. What percentage would prefer to live in Somalia, South Africa, Rwanda, Sierra Leone or Nigeria?

Of course why the above countries are in the state they are in is another discussion entirely, one you hint at with Haiti.