Discussion 26.11.13

The chapter, "Negroes or other property," was discussed today, in class. What I got out of this chapter right after reading it was that Aminata goes through so many things that she does not deserve but she stands tall, nonetheless. What she did deserve was to leave and go to Nova Scotia with her husband but of course, Appleby being the devil he is tries to take away her hard earned happiness and freedom. BUT! As the thesis of today's discussion states, Aminata has found the strength to endure these hardships. This chapter shows Aminata's skills being put to "good" use. She is assisting in having her people, herself, and people just like her FREED. Unfortunately and not-so-unexpectedly, the whites betray them and make a few empty promises. Aminata is about to leave and head to Nova Scotia with the love of her life and a baby that they made together in her belly until the devil takes away her dream. She was about to be happy and about to have what she always dreamed for and always wanted. I don't know what the future holds for Aminata at this point but I hope that she reunites with Chekura and they live with their baby happily and easily. Aminata deserves this and even Chekura deserves this. Chekura is not a character that is extremely well-developed and we don't know as much about him as we do Aminata but he, to me, is crucial in the story of Aminata's journey. I think that Aminata needs him and I believe that he is one of the FEW reasons that she is still alive. He gives her a reason to stay alive, even though she is a slave, who is treated like garbage for most of her life. Aminata's own strength is important to her survival, also. Without it, she would be a weak, scrawny slave just like the rest of them but Aminata is a strong, SMART woman with skills that not many black women had in the slave days. Everything Aminata has, she has worked for and DESERVES.

Discussion 22.11.13

The chapter, "They come and go from holy ground," was discussed today in class. This chapter is obviously extremely important in regards to Aminata's freedom. When she finally built up the courage to leave Lindo, I anticipated that something would go wrong. When the chapter ended, she has fled to Canvas Town and began a life here so I thought OK, things are going well. I do not believe that a black person, in the slavery days, was every truly free. They could be physically free (like Aminata in this chapter) but they were never mentally free. From the moment they thought about being free, they began to feel fear that if they were free, their owner or some white folk would find them and capture them again. Aminata, though, does believe that she is now free. We see this when she says, "Nearly twenty years had passed since I was seized in the woods outside Bayo, but here I was, all alone and surrounded by the trees of another continent-and I was free again."(Hill,287) I wondered how Aminata could consider herself free if just moments before she said this, she worried if Sam was wrong and worried that Lindo would search for her and find her. It is this fear evoked into the minds of the blacks that prove that they are in fact not free at all.

Zimbardo Experiment compared to the Book of Negroes.

Zimbardo Experiment:

       In 1971, psychologist Philip Zimbardo and his colleagues set out to create an experiment that looked at the impact of becoming a prisoner or guard. The researchers set up a fake area that mirrored the look and feel of a real prison, in the basement of Standford University, and then selected 24 undergraduate students to play the role of both prisoners and guards. The group of students that were chosen had no criminal background, lacked psychological issues and had no major medical conditions.
       The "prison" included three 6x9 foot prison cells, each containing 3 cots and held 3 prisoners. (You can imagine how uncomfortable and NON-private this must have been for the prisoners-such a small space.) Across from the cells were rooms for the guards and a warden. A very small space was assigned as the solitary confinement room and another served as the prison yard.

[[This was just an experiment so obviously it did not have to be exactly like a real prison-it's the idea that mattered and the outcome was what was to be recorded.]]

       The 24 students were either assigned the role of a prisoner or a guard. Prisoners remained confined for a 24 hour period and the guards were assigned to work in 3-man teams for 8 hour periods. After each period, guards were able to return to their homes until their next shift. The hidden camera and microphones captured everything that went on during these hours and everything was noted, recorded and studied by Zimbardo and his crew, specifically the behavior of the participants.
       The results showed aggression and abusive tendencies towards the prisoners on the guards' part and the prisoners began to show signs of stress and anxiety, leading to the time period of the experiment to be much shorter than originally planned. The prisoners became passive and depressed, some even crying and becoming acutely anxious, leading them to be released early from the experiment. Zimbardo was even caught up in the act of power, as he was the warden. He did not notice the seriousness and immorality of the situation until a graduate voiced objections concerning the conditions. The results demonstrated that power plays a role in human behavior. The guards were given this power over the prisoners and hence, began to behave atrociously toward them, leaving them to become depressed, as they had no control whatsoever.


Now, to relate this experiment to The Book of Negroes is not a difficult task, unfortunately...

The slaves that are captured are put into a submissive state, where any human rights they once had are demolished. The slave owners/buckra are like the guards. They have 100% authority over these people. It is a horrible thing-ownage over a person. These slaves were once free people. We see their attitude and behavior change from the moment they are captured. Whilst captured, they become sad and they miss their previous life; loved ones, food, comfort, housing, love and tenderness. It is dehumanizing to cage the prisoners like animals and we see dehumanization when the slaves are chained and pulled as if they are not human beings. If they disobey the people in charge they are beaten and humiliated. Who gives these people the right to do this? The prisoners might have gotten themselves into the state of being locked up but their reaction, nonetheless, is the same. They become frustrated with the lack of movement and freedom and enter a state of sadness. The slaves endure the same pain. What they once had is taken from them so suddenly. A quote from the book says, "I stumbled forward, and didn't notice for hours that the yoke was rubbing the skin of my neck raw" (Hill 35). This is Aminata speaking. It shows that the slaves are bound by metal chains by their necks- how animalistic. It clearly was painful and uncomfortable, too. Another quote from Aminata says, "We now had ten or so captors, all with spears, clubs and firesticks" (Hill 38). This shows that the ones who stole the slaves were ready, at any given time, to beat or even kill any slave that showed resistance. It also played as a means of keeping the slaves in their reach, sort of like a boundary. (Meaning that if the slave were to try to run away, they would be killed and hence, they would not dare try.) If it were me being a slave, I'd surely become depressed too if that was my life and if I were a captor, I could see how the power would get to me and consume my actions.

Discussion 14.11.13

The chapter, "The Shape of Africa," was discussed today in class. What stood out to me the most in this discussion was the fact that Aminata is clueless as to the shape of a map. She never knew, until Solomon Lindo gave her the privilege to view one, that maps even existed or how they looked. Aminata had recently been told that there was a place called Africa and that she was African. Now she is seeing the shape of Africa on this map and she is appalled. She is offended that there are no labels of the villages in Africa. It is just a shape on the map where black people come from. If I were in Aminata's situation, I too would be upset. All of this information to take in at once is overwhelming. What confuses me is why Solomon Lindo is helping her if she is his servant. I like his kind-heartedness but I feel as though he just wants something in return. Aminata is a troubled girl, having experienced too many mishaps and turmoils, including the loss of her baby and husband. She is alone in this new village, working for Solomon. She does have Dolly, but when she sees her swollen belly full of a baby, she weeps and mourns over the loss of her own child whilst working for Appleby. I am glad that Aminata is under gentler care now, not with that devil Appleby, but I truly hope that as she becomes more and more knowledgable, she finds a way out....a way to a new, happy life.

Discussion 12.11.13

Today in class, the chapter, "Milk for the longest nursing," was discussed. This chapter touched a lot on dehumanization and Aminata's loss; her baby being taken from her. This chapter was one of the few chapters in this book that made me cringe. When Appleby shaved Aminata's hair off and called it "wool", I could not help but tense my jaw. This horrible man was taking away what symbolized her beauty, humanness and her womanhood. He did this out of anger towards Aminata "dressing like she was white." WHAT A STUPID REASON. Aminata is a human who should have just as much right to wear what she pleases and act how she wants but instead, she is under the supervision and owned by another human; a white man. To make things worse, if she does something unpleasing to him, she is humiliated and punished. When Appleby takes her baby away from her, I could nearly feel her heartache. She falls asleep with this pride and joy of hers in her arms and wakes up to him being taken away from her......the feeling of pain is unimaginable. It is unfortunate that the whites dehumanized the salves under no good cause. This disturbs me greatly and this chapter for me was not easy to read. Aminata did nothing to deserve the humiliation she endured in front of her people and she most certainly did not deserve having her baby taken from her. These both affected Aminata but she is a strong character and her story goes on... I can say that I look up to her character and I truly admire her resilience.

Discussion 04.11.13

Today in class, there was a long discussion on the chapter, "They Call Me an African." The most interesting part of this chapter for me was the fact that Aminata did not know where she originated; she was clueless to the outside world. She is a pure African and never knew it until she was told. She identified herself as a Bamana and a Fula but did not know she was born and raised in Africa. When she is on this new island, Sullivan island, she is told that she is from Africa and she is clueless about even the word, as she has never heard it. There is a quote representing dehumanization saying, "I belong to nobody, I am not an African. I am a Bamana. And a Fula. I am from Bayo near Segu. I am not what you say. I am not an African." Aminata says this to somebody who informs her of her roots. She is appalled and states her identification. She has been this all of her life and she is not about to change who she is for these new people. I personally think that Aminata does not ever struggle with her identity. Whilst going through the terror that was slavery, she still prayed and called herself a Muslim, though she did query losing faith because of her situation. Aminata may be young but she knows who she is. At least she thought she did, until she was told she was an African. She then fights it. She is not an African, she is who she believes she is and who she has been for her whole life up until that very moment. This discussion was extremely interesting to me because I cannot imagine being in a state where I am told that I am something or someone I am not... or who I thought I was not. This horror called slavery brought terror amongst the slaves. How were they to know what was the truth and what was not? They did not. Because they were not allowed to. They were told to believe and obey their 'owners' and all they could do was just that, if they wanted to dodge a beating or death.

Discussion 31.10.13

Today in class, we discussed, "And my story awaits like a restful beast." This is the first chapter of Book 2 in the Book of Negroes, where the protagonist Aminata sits with the Black Abolitionists. One of the discussion questions was, "What does Aminata want to accomplish before she dies?" Aminata wants to become a djeli (a storyteller) and the irony is that the book is her story. She has become a storyteller; she tells her story and the ones who were involved. I love this aspect of the book because she works so hard and is treated like garbage. She experiences death up close at the young age of 11. She is sexually harassed and has her childhood innocence ripped right out of her hands. Her story of slavery is an inspirational one and this story should be told. She says, in the final words of the chapter, "One of these people will find my story and pass it along. And then, I believe, I will have lived for a reason." This is a great quote again restating the fact that this is all she wants in life. After her experience, it becomes her goal to get her story out there and published and she well deserves the attention. It's the fact that somebody so young and innocent can become such a mature and brave person along the way. Aminata is a fighter and her treacherous, horrible journey through her youth touches my heart.