http://www.moadsf.org en-us © MoAD MoAD connects all people through the art, culture, and history of the African Diaspora Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD) An international museum, based in San Francisco, MoAD is committed to showcasing the "best of the best" from the African Diaspora. Drawing from the collections of museums, institutes, organizations, universities and private citizens, MoAD is a collector of stories—a repository of information to be shared with all who wish to know about the African Diaspora. This podcast channel is made possible through a generous donation by Ronald McDonald House Charities. An international museum, based in San Francisco, MoAD is committed to showcasing the "best of the best" from the African Diaspora. Drawing from the collections of museums, institutes, organizations, universities and private citizens, MoAD is a collector of stories—a repository of information to be shared with all who wish to know about the African Diaspora. This podcast channel is made possible through a generous donation by Ronald McDonald House Charities. Jim Spadaccini jims@ideum.com MoAD - Museum of the African Diaspora Learn about San Francisco's newest museum - Video Podcast View a short video overview and explore the Museum of African Diaspora (MoAD) which opened in San Francisco in December 2005. http://www.moadsf.org/podcast/introducing-moad.m4v Tues, 15 Nov 2005 12:00:00 GMT 6:53 video, arts, culture, africa, african, architecture, San Francisco, MoAD, museum, diaspora, history, opening, black history, world history, american history, art, soma MoAD - Museum of the African Diaspora Hear the voices of people who endured the cruelties of slavery. These stories of courage, spanning three centuries come from the United States, Brazil, Cuba, Jamaica, and Sudan. Narration by Maya Angelou The enslavement of the African peoples, the transatlantic slave trade, and the plantation system that followed, initiated the largest sustained commercial trading of human beings in history. Some scholars estimate that more than 20 million Africans were transported to the New World. The few slave narratives that are presented in this exhibit reflect only a fraction of the millions upon millions of stories that could have been told by people who had the misfortune to toil under the yoke of slavery. Although each of their stories is as unique and individual as a fingerprint, describing as they do, a different heartbreak and a different survival strategy. The brief glimpse provided in this exhibit will give you an introduction to the ways in which lives were affected. http://www.moadsf.org/salon/exhibits/slave_narratives/media/mp3/01_Introduction.mp3 Tues, 21 Aug 2006 12:00:00 GMT 1:30 slave, slavery, slave trade, plantation system, diaspora, africa, african, MoAD, black history, world history, african history, american history MoAD - Museum of the African Diaspora Hear the voices of people who endured the cruelties of slavery. These stories of courage, spanning three centuries come from the United States, Brazil, Cuba, Jamaica, and Sudan. Voice Over by Loretta Devine Tempe Herndon Durham grew up on a large plantation in Chatham County, North Carolina. Plantation owners George and Betsy Herndon raised corn, wheat, cotton, and tobacco. Tempe Herndon Durham explains how life changed after "surrender" and how her and her husband eventually purchased their own farm. Durham was 103 years old when she shared her story with Travis Jordan, an interviewer from the Federal Writers' Project of the Work Progress Administration (WPA) in 1937. The WPA interviewed over 2,300 ex-slaves between 1936-1938. http://www.moadsf.org/salon/exhibits/slave_narratives/media/mp3/02_Tempe_Herndon.mp3 Tues, 21 Aug 2006 12:00:00 GMT 8:05 slave, slavery, slave trade, plantation system, diaspora, africa, african, MoAD, black history, world history, african history, american history MoAD - Museum of the African Diaspora Hear the voices of people who endured the cruelties of slavery. These stories of courage, spanning three centuries come from the United States, Brazil, Cuba, Jamaica, and Sudan. Voice Over by Barry "Shabaka" Henley During the course of his life as a slave Olaudah Equiano was sold 10 times enduring three name changes by his various masters. He was baptised as Gustavus Vassa. His life was one of adventurer, entrepreneur, slave owner, merchant, explorer, abolitionist, and seaman. Olaudah Equiano was born in what is today Nigeria, kidnapped from his African village at the age of eleven, and sold to a Virginia planter. He was later bought by a British naval Officer, Captain Pascal, as a present for his cousins in London. Equiano bought his freedom after ten years of enslavement throughout the North American continent, where he assisted his merchant slave master and worked as a seaman. Equiano recalls his childhood in Essaka, where he was adorned in the tradition of the "greatest warriors." He is unique in his recollection of traditional African life before the beginning of the European slave trade and detailed accounts of the horrors of the middle Passage. Equiano was extremely well travelled for his time. He not only travelled throughout the Americas, Turkey and the Mediterranean; but also participated in major naval battles during the French and Indian War (Seven Years' War), as well as in the search for a Northwest passage led by the Philips stores to the expedition to resettle London's poor Blacks in Sierra Leone, a British colony on the west coast of Africa. http://www.moadsf.org/salon/exhibits/slave_narratives/media/mp3/03_Olaudah_Equiano.mp3 Tues, 21 Aug 2006 12:00:00 GMT 5:58 slave, slavery, slave trade, plantation system, diaspora, africa, african, MoAD, black history, world history, african history, american history MoAD - Museum of the African Diaspora Hear the voices of people who endured the cruelties of slavery. These stories of courage, spanning three centuries come from the United States, Brazil, Cuba, Jamaica, and Sudan. Voice Over by Felix Justice Juan Francisco Manzano was born in Havana, Cuba in 1797. He was born into slavery and remained in servitude until the age of 40. His younger years as a child were spent at the feet of his mistress where he developed his skills as a tailor and artist. Born to free parents Manzano lived a privileged life as a child. It was after the death of his first mistress and his transfer of ownership at the age of ten to the home of the sadistic Marquesa Ameno, did he become aware of his status as a slave due to the beatings and punishment he received on a regular basis. He was his mistress's attendant and also an attendant in his master's drawing class. Here is where he developed his skill as an artist. Few privileges he was afforded at the whims of his mistress. Over the years he suffered from severe beating and punishments for the slightest infractions. Often times he was sent to the overseer where he was punished again for the same incident. In his own words, "I was like my mistress's lap-dog, since I had to follow her where ever she went..." During these years he taught himself to read, write and compose poetry. Mistress Ameno would invite authors and poets into her home for evening entertainment. Manzano would memorize each verse and carefully transfer to paper during his time alone. It was under the rule of slavery that most of his poetry was written. Poetry that would later be instrumental to him acquiring his freedom with help from admirers of his work. Manzano became a favorite in the household for his skills as a tailor. He created elaborately designed pillows, clothings and linen. He pushed to learn all he could for he knew that one these skills would help him as a free man. http://www.moadsf.org/salon/exhibits/slave_narratives/media/mp3/04_Juan_Francisco.mp3 Tues, 21 Aug 2006 12:00:00 GMT 4:35 slave, slavery, slave trade, plantation system, diaspora, africa, african, MoAD, black history, world history, african history, american history MoAD - Museum of the African Diaspora Hear the voices of people who endured the cruelties of slavery. These stories of courage, spanning three centuries come from the United States, Brazil, Cuba, Jamaica, and Sudan. Voice Over by Hattie Winston Mary Prince was the first black British woman to escape from slavery and publish a record of her experiences. In this unique document, Mary Prince vividly recalls her life as a slave in Bermuda, working in the salt ponds on Turks Island, and Antigua - where she was wash maid, nurse and chamber maid - her rebellion against physical and psychological degradation, and her eventual escape to London in 1828. Born in Bermuda where she was a house slave until the age of twelve when Prince was sold away from her parents to a nearby town. Here she suffered daily abuse and beatings with "hard twisted hide" at the hands of her new mistress. She also witnessed the abuse of other slaves. One incident in particular was the beating of a pregnant woman who was stripped naked, hung from a tree by her hands and flogged until her skin was raw and bloodied. After a forced, severe labour hours later to a still born child she returned to her duties. However, still enduring daily floggings she one day laid on the kitchen floor unable to move due to a baldy beaten body. Her limbs swelled to a great size till the water burst out her body and died. This and other accounts of abuse suffered by other slaves and by Prince herself are recorded in her narrative. She recalls in graphic details the pains and degradation of slavery. With each new master to which Prince was sold she suffered more and more severe abuse. Severel times she tried to buy her freedom or have it purchased by someone else including her husband. At this particular request she was once again beaten and threatened with death. Finally, after arriving in London she was able to buy her freedom however at the time of writing this narrative she was still separated from her husband who remained in Antigua. http://www.moadsf.org/salon/exhibits/slave_narratives/media/mp3/05_Mary_Prince.mp3 Tues, 21 Aug 2006 12:00:00 GMT 11:36 slave, slavery, slave trade, plantation system, diaspora, africa, african, MoAD, black history, world history, african history, american history MoAD - Museum of the African Diaspora Hear the voices of people who endured the cruelties of slavery. These stories of courage, spanning three centuries come from the United States, Brazil, Cuba, Jamaica, and Sudan. Voice Over by Peter Fitzsimmons Mahommah Gardo Baquaqua was born in 1820's Djougou in the modern-day West African Country of Benin. According to his own biographical account he was a favorite of a local king. Around 1844 he was kidnapped, sold into slavery and taken to Recife, Brazil. Taken along with his master to New York in 1847, he became involved in legal proceedings in the city concerning his status a slave. Helped by abolitionists, he escaped to Boston, where it was arranged for him to travel to Haiti. Raised as a Muslim, he became a Baptist Christian convert while in Haiti. In 1849, with the help of a Baptist missionary, he returned to New York and studied at Central College until 1853. In 1854 his biography (from which excerpt was taken) was published, soon after he traveled to England where he was last documented in 1857. It is believed he eventually went home to Africa and worked as Christian missionary. http://www.moadsf.org/salon/exhibits/slave_narratives/media/mp3/06_Mahommah_Gardo.mp3 Tues, 21 Aug 2006 12:00:00 GMT 4:54 slave, slavery, slave trade, plantation system, diaspora, africa, african, MoAD, black history, world history, african history, american history MoAD - Museum of the African Diaspora Hear the voices of people who endured the cruelties of slavery. These stories of courage, spanning three centuries come from the United States, Brazil, Cuba, Jamaica, and Sudan. Voice Over by Ted Lange Estaban Montejo (1860-1973) began life as a slave in 1860 in Cuba. In 1963 at the age of 103 his story was recorded by writer Miguel Barnet. Montejo details his experience of life on the sugar plantations in Cuba, his failed attempt at escape, and his successful try when he ran away to live as a maroon in the woods until the abolition of slavery. After the abolition of slavery in 1886 while working as a paid sugar worker on the plantations he joined the Mambises to fight in the War of Independence (1895-1898) also known as the Spanish-Cuban-American War. He later witnessed the transformation and take over of Cuba by U.S. Troops. This is truly one man's story of not only his life as a slave the but also the story of the social development of the late nineteenth century in Cuba. It is also an account of how African culture was introduced to the Caribbean through slavery. Montejo recalls his time on the plantation and in the woods among the maroons observing the various African belief systems and traditions strongly implemented within the slave community and at the same time used as a form of resistance to the institution of slavery. The narrative is divided into three sections: Slavery, The Abolition of Slavery and The War of Independence. In Slavery Montejo recalls the work and living conditions endured by the slaves as well as the brutal treatment inflicted by slave masters. He also speaks on the various African traditions slaves brought with them using herbs and potions for healing. The Abolition of Slavery recalls Montejo's life in the woods living among the maroons. After the abolition of slavery Montejo returns to the plantations to work for wages. He notes that the conditions had not changed and blacks were treated the same as before... life was just as hard their movements were controlled with pass books. http://www.moadsf.org/salon/exhibits/slave_narratives/media/mp3/07_Esteban_Montejo.mp3 Tues, 21 Aug 2006 12:00:00 GMT 6:05 slave, slavery, slave trade, plantation system, diaspora, africa, african, MoAD, black history, world history, african history, american history MoAD - Museum of the African Diaspora Hear the voices of people who endured the cruelties of slavery. These stories of courage, spanning three centuries come from the United States, Brazil, Cuba, Jamaica, and Sudan. Voice Over by Margarette Robinson Writer and abolitionist Harriet Jacobs was born a slave in Edenton, North Carolina to parents who were owned by different masters. This narrative is the story of her life as a young girl in slavery and the sexual oppression and degradation she suffered as a slave. After the death of her mother at the age of six, Harriet was taken in by her mistress who educated her as one of her own. Upon her mistresses death, Harriet was willed to her niece. It was here where she withstood years of sexual advances from the father of her new mistress. Every free moment she was followed and harassed by her new master at the same time suffering the jealousy and rage of his wife. Because of his favor towards Harriet, she was never beaten or punished.This only increased the wife's fury against Harriet. In her narrative, Harriet discusses the nature of the 'relationship' that exist between slave women and their masters, both coerced and consensual. All were subjected to the masters will, even husbands who were sometimes forced to beat their own wives for not submitting. A frequent punishment was to tie a rope around the man's body suspended from the ground as a fire was kindled over him cooking a piece of fat back. The hot oil from the back would drip on one's bare skin. After repeated refusals of her master's advances and his jealousy of her other relationships, she was sent to the fields to be broken in as a field hand. Refusing to submit, Harriet ran away to her grandmother's house. There she remained for the next seven years hiding in attic of a shed to escape capture. She left Edenton and found freedom in New York. Here she worked as an abolitionist and became a feminist as well. Fellow activists encouraged her to tell her story about the abuses of slavery, especially concerning women. http://www.moadsf.org/salon/exhibits/slave_narratives/media/mp3/08_Harriet_Jacobs.mp3 Tues, 21 Aug 2006 12:00:00 GMT 7:47 slave, slavery, slave trade, plantation system, diaspora, africa, african, MoAD, black history, world history, african history, american history MoAD - Museum of the African Diaspora Hear the voices of people who endured the cruelties of slavery. These stories of courage, spanning three centuries come from the United States, Brazil, Cuba, Jamaica, and Sudan. Voice Over by Guy Johnson Fountain Hughes was born in 1848 near Charlottesville, Virginia. It is believed that his grandfather was Wormely Hughes, a slave owned by Thomas Jefferson. Wormely was Jefferson's gardener. Hughes' father was killed while serving in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. Fountain Hughes recounted his time growing up under the harsh conditions of slavery. He was interviewed in 1949 in Baltimore by Herman Norwood. The original recordings are located in the American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress. http://www.moadsf.org/salon/exhibits/slave_narratives/media/mp3/09_Fountain_Hughes.mp3 Tues, 21 Aug 2006 12:00:00 GMT 5:16 slave, slavery, slave trade, plantation system, diaspora, africa, african, MoAD, black history, world history, african history, american history MoAD - Museum of the African Diaspora Hear the voices of people who endured the cruelties of slavery. These stories of courage, spanning three centuries come from the United States, Brazil, Cuba, Jamaica, and Sudan. Voice Over by Travis Lawrence This is the story of Francis Bok's journey from slavery to freedom and the people he met along they way who helped him. Escape From Slavery is a story about the cruelty and dislocation of slavery in the 21st century. It is a story about a long raging war of racism and religion in the Sudan between the Muslim Arabs of the North and the Christian Dinkas of the South. Francis Bok at the age of seven was robbed of his childhood and his culture when he was captured and enslaved during an Arab militia raid on the village of Nymlal on May 15, 1986. Children were abused, kidnapped and killed along with adults. He was strapped to a donkey and taken north to Kirio. For ten years, he lived as the family slave to Giema Abdullah, treated like the animals he tended, Bok was forced to sleep with cattle, endure daily beatings, and eat rotten food. Called "abeed" (black slave), he was given an Arabic name - Dut Giema Abdullah - and forced to convert to Islam and perform Islamic prayers daily. During this time he was never allowed to speak to other Dika slave children he would occasionally see while tending the animals. On a daily basis his life was threatened with having his arm or leg cut off. Twice before he unsucessfully tried to escape. Each time he was severly beaten and threatened by Giema with death. In December of 1996, he escaped to the nearby town of Matari, where he was enslaved by local policemen for two months. But an Arab truck driver helped him escape and eventually to reach Khartoum, the capital. In Khartoum, he was arrested by the security forces and jailed for seven months for conspiracy against the government for speaking publically about his experience as a slave. After being released, he then escaped to Cairo. In 1999, the United Nations resettled him in North Dakota. Since his escape from slavery he has spoken out many times in public about his experience as a slave. He has shared his story with Senators and Congressmen at Capital Hill, alongisde Coretta Scott King, at the Boston Freedom Award ceremony, and testified before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. He is the founder of iabolish.com and currently lives in Boston where he continues to educate himself and speak out against modern day slavery every where. http://www.moadsf.org/salon/exhibits/slave_narratives/media/mp3/10_Francis_Bok.mp3 Tues, 21 Aug 2006 12:00:00 GMT 5:31 slave, slavery, slave trade, plantation system, diaspora, africa, african, MoAD, black history, world history, african history, american history MoAD - Museum of the African Diaspora Hear the voices of people who endured the cruelties of slavery. These stories of courage, spanning three centuries come from the United States, Brazil, Cuba, Jamaica, and Sudan. Narration by Maya Angelou Slavery did not create racism, it merely generated the excuse to legitimize racism into the national consciousness. We are still living with the legacy of slavery. For people's attitude are shaped by the commonly held beliefs of their society, that is one of the reasons this presentation is so important. The slave narratives not only document where we were one hundred and fifty years ago, but they identify where, unfortunately, some of us remain today. As human beings we have to recognize slavery as a system that is based on the absence of justice, and further accept that that there is no justification that validate it. It is imperative that we remember the myths and stereotypes, that some of us hold close to our hearts, even today. Since we all care about justice, let us all speak out against bigotry and slavery, where ever they threaten human beings throughout the world. Hopefully this exhibit will compliment your ongoing search for knowledge, more knowledge and more knowledge, and it will help you become vigilant and fight against injustice in the future. http://www.moadsf.org/salon/exhibits/slave_narratives/media/mp3/11_Conclusion.mp3 Tues, 21 Aug 2006 12:00:00 GMT 3:12 slave, slavery, slave trade, plantation system, diaspora, africa, african, MoAD, black history, world history, african history, american history