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March 25, 2007 will mark 200 years since 'The 1807 Abolition of the Slave Trade Act' was passed. The slave rebellions, sabotage from the slaves and activists such as William Wilberforce were proving too much for the British government and the rest of the barbarians who thought it was morally right to enslave human beings. For those of you who know about history you will realise that 200 years is a very short period of time . Still we have come a long way since 1838 when slavery was officially abolished even though certain aspects of slavery and its effects are still present in today's society. How is society marking this anniversary? It was interesting to hear on a radio talkshow on Genesis FM, the host mentioned how a few African centered films such as Blood Diamonds and The Last King of Scotland are really the celebration of this bicentenery. Though the films are in African countries and merely show how Africa was robbed and savaged plus a corrupt African president. How many more African films will be brought out for the rest of 2007 to commemorate this anniversary ? Would the proceeds from these films (ticket sales) go towards charity or reparations?
Africans worldwide have achieved many things since then such as the right to vote, the right to be treated equally as citizens (arguably). I must say all these privileges we as African people now have, we owe to our ancestors in most cases they had to die for it, whether being killed in slave rebellions, lynched, or making campaigns for Africans. People like Marcus Garvey, Malcom X and Dr Martin Luther King Jr, Frederick Douglas and many others enabled us to these priviliges. Still many of us forget these sacrifices that our ancestors paid for us. Some of our very actions today justify this claim. If they were like some of us during those times then I guess there would still be slavery after all and we'd still be on the sugar plantations and cotton fields etc. Well some of us would be Maroons, some will be scheming to be free of slavery like kunta kente in film 'Roots'. Some would be uncle toms informing the slave master of a plan to raid the plantations. Which one would you have been? Honestly?... I know that many things haven't changed since 200 years ago but we have the choice to change the future.
Almost 200 years after slavery a man who would have been a slave then 'Barack Obama' is now running for presidentof the United States. This is remarkable for an African to be running for president of the United States and taken seriously. Still I can say we had a greater spokesman for African people in the United States of America during and after slavery in the name of Frederick Douglas who was a very important figure in the voting rights for African Americans today. Another thing that hasn't changed since then were rich black folks. Yes during slavery there were rich black men who even owned slaves and today there are rich black people too many to mention. Yet African countries and communities worldwide suffer atrociously.
We are making history everyday and I feel as though we need to see what we can do for our children/descendants 200 years from now. What can we do to make their lives better? I wonder what 200 years from now will be like?
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