“The Caged Bird Sings”

The recent protests in USA that erupted in reaction to the  killing of African American, George Floyd, by the police, have spread to UK and France , touching the raw nerve of race relations.  It has reawakened the legacy of slavery, abolished at the end of the 19 century. Yet, even after eight generations, black communities in these countries, are still seen through  the prism of slavery. The phrases used in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd in USA  are not of anger but pain – “ we are tired”.

Slavery existed in every nation. African, European, or Asian. The vast majority were captives taken during wars, and included all races.  Most nations assimilated descendants of slaves as equal citizens. The slaves of the Ottomans were trained as soldiers and statesmen, many attaining high positions as generals or managing the administration of the empire. Mulla Ali, an Abyssinian slave, became the Chief Judge, and the first black man in the imperial council, even writing an influential book challenging prejudice against dark-skinned people.  A French ambassador described him as the person who truly ran the empire. The slaves of the harem were purchased, but those who become mothers of Sultans were given the respected title of Valide Sultan. The Mamluks, a title given to those whose origins were in slavery, founded their own dynasties in Egypt and Syria and in India. Mamluk decorative arts and architecture were renowned.

History has many famous personalities who were once slaves – Aesop whose fables brought him fame,  St Patrick, patron saint of Ireland, Alexandre Dumas,  author of The Three Musketeers ,who was the son of a slave, to name a few.  The most renowned in Islam was Hazrat Bilal who was given the honour of first reciting the call to prayer. 

However, the existence of the vast majority of slaves was one of humiliation, misery, cruel servitude, and dehumanization. It was the songs, spiritual songs and later blues, personal letters, poetry, and art that stood witness to the emotional toll. Slaves were meant to smile and not show their emotions as expressed in the poem “We Wear a Mask”, by Paul Laurence Dunbar. Turner’s painting ‘The Slave Ship’ of 1840 was exhibited when the World Anti Slavery Convention held in London, and in Boston in 1877. It moved many with its depiction of the horrors faced at sea by slaves transported to America, and is believed to have contributed to the ban on slavery. Abraham Lincoln greeted Harriet Beecher Stowe author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin by saying "so you are the little woman who wrote the book that started this great war."  The ceramist, Josiah Wedgewood, an anti slavery activist, produced medallions with the words "Am I not a Man and a Brother?" that were worn by abolitionists.  Billie Holliday’s song ‘Strange Fruit’, Maya Angelou’s poem ‘Caged Bird’ and Alex Haley’s book “ Roots” gave a voice to the suffering of African Americans. Bob Marley says   ‘All I ever had is songs of freedom’.

Today, protesters use posters, wear T shirts with messages and paint murals n public places, A few days ago Banksy contributed a new graffiti marking the impact of the protests in USA. Pakistani Truck artist, Haider, painted a portrait of George Floyd. Statues of slavers or racists become symbols to be pulled down in UK and USA. K-Pop band fans have appropriated #WhiteLivesMatter.

Legislation to end slavery has spanned a millennium, but slavery lives on in bonded labour, human trafficking, and mining communities of Africa. Living with domestic abuse is a form of psychological slavery. In Pakistan, people feel powerless to protest against the excesses of law enforcers, landlords and the politically powerful. 

As Rev. Al Sharpton said “the reason we could never be who we wanted and dreamed of being is you kept your knee on our neck."

Durriya Kazi

June 15, 2020

 durriyakazi1918@gmail.com