African American Monument - Savannah, GA
I spent a week participating in a research program studying African American history and culture in Savannah and the surrounding areas-- in particular, the sea islands. There will be many more photos and posts coming in the next few weeks as I continue to process. I decided to start with this image that pays tribute to the Africans who were stolen from their lands and enslaved in the Americas. By and large, Africans were brought to this region of the country for cotton and rice cultivation; on the sea islands, they also harvested indigo.
The program that I participated in was conducted and coordinated through the Georgia Historical Society. Their work is incredible and I encourage everyone that travels to Savannah to PLEASE take a moment and appreciate what they do. They are instrumental in the retelling of U.S. History and they work to bridge the gaps of revisionist accounts of the past. The GHS has an historical marker program, which provides residents and tourists alike with significant information about Georgia's history. In the revisionist accounts, the cruelties and inhumanity of African enslavement would be omitted. We need institutions such as GHS so that we get a more robust understanding of our past; this, undoubtedly, will provide us with a greater appreciation for the present. I am still completely unsure how we can ever move forward if we're unwilling to look at the past. We cannot and ought not move away from African enslavement, but in fact move toward it.
Point of note: There is NO such thing as a "good" slave master/owner. You cannot possibly be "good" while holding another human being in captivity... this is a conundrum.
Inscription on African American Monument:
"We were stolen, sold and bought together from the African
Continent. We got on the slave ships together, we lay back to belly in
the holds of the slave ships in each other's excrement and urine
together. Sometimes died together and our lifeless bodies thrown
overboard together. Today we are standing up together with faith
and even some joy." -- Maya Angelou
