I BOUGHT YESTERDAY!

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Went to Goree Island today, the famed "point of no return" for my African forebears who were sold or traded into slavery. Learned that the men were priced by weight, the babies by the number of teeth, women were priced based on their breast size or whether they were virgins. Men who weighed less than about 120 lbs were put together in a room and fed more for fattening up; women who became pregnant by the slave traders were allegedly freed and the babies sold into slavery. In general, people would be held in the slave house in iron shackles for three months, 24 hours a day, allowed out of their rooms once a day, to relieve themselves. The curator gave a commanding summary at the foot of the stairs to the slave house. He said the Holocaust that we hear, read and see so much about lasted only two years, while slavery lasted 300 years and gets, relatively, barely a notice. Thus, he said, "I will talk about it till the day I die."

The shop owners on the island (and, of course, there are many) are obviously quite accustomed to Black folks visiting Goree from hither and yon and feeling a bit emotional. The pestering to buy is a little less aggressive, prefaced with "My Sister, My Sister" or "Welcome Home"; but still, it pervades. Three little girls roused themselves from playing in the dirt to practice their mother's beckon calls: "my chista! my chista!". One enterprising young woman met us as we stepped off the ferry and introduced herself as Tina Turner. No chance we'd forget the name of her shop!

We walked around, saw a sand painting demonstration (video will be posted later), bought some stuff, took some pictures. I pondered S' idea of wearing t-shirts reading "I Bought Yesterday!" as a means of preempting the persistent "My Sister, My Sister", "Come to My Shop, I Give You Good Price", "For you, gift: How Much You Pay?" Maybe selling this t-shirt could be how I make my first million?, I thought. Maybe that would be the height of arrogance and quite offensive, on second thought.

I wondered if Africans still on the continent perceive us, descendants of slaves, as the lucky ones? Not to give the history of slavery short shrift, of course, but in the present day, I suspect that the poorest of slave descendants in America and the U.K. live middle class lives at least, relative to descendants dispersed in Brazil, Cuba, the Caribbean and Africans remaining in most of the continents 52 countries (52!).

Stayed in Ngor last night at Le Brazzerade hotel. The meal was good, the restaurant setting had a relaxing view; the room was okay--the entertainment, superb! As best as could be gathered, not speaking the language, there appeared to be a dispute between a backpacking traveller and his...companion for the evening, let's say. Whether his back pack was rifled during his poistcoital slumber, one can only guess (unless one actually speaks the language and could understand the shouts!) In any case, hotel security apparently got the matter well in hand in short order.

Well, I've done Dakar. I am more than ready for the utimate destination of this journey, and one of my favorite words:

OUAGADOUGOU

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Comments

[An Anonymous Reader]

Two Holocausts - one hasn't ended.
The European Holocaust began in 1933 and ended in 1945, quite a bit longer than the 2 years you mention in your post. And if you stop to think about it, the Jews have been persecuted for thousands of years. Don't minimize the Holocaust in an attempt to make slavery more dreadful. Each is a sin against humanity in its own right.

[Lett]

Two Holocausts-one hasn't ended
Thanks for the comment. Note that I was paraphrasing what the Goree Island tour leader stated, not passing judgment on the veracity of his statement, nor attempting to minimize one atrocity in favor of another.