Ras Kimono, the Relics of Slavery and the African Diaspora: A Study on the Socio-Cultural Factors in the Haitian-Biafran Relations

It is no longer news that people of African descent were enslaved to the new world via: Caribbean, America and Europe for more than four hundred years. Rastafari movement has always engaged in the history of memory especially to reminiscence about slave experiences. Bob Marley songs are replete with such freedom chants. For example, Marley’s Redemption song and Buffalo Soldier are strong lyrics about the horrors of slavery. The cultural linkage between the Igbo of Southeastern Nigeria and Haiti in the Caribbean is examined, especially the nexus between Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and the Haitian support to the Biafran struggle during the Nigerian Civil War 1967-1970 re-echoes the African slave narratives as Kimono recorded in his song.

Reconstructed and neo-slave narratives in French: Filling the gap through literature and archives

This article examines Rebecca J. Scott and Jean M. Hébrard’s Freedom Papers and Marie-Célie Agnant’s novel Le livre d’Emma as two important contributions geared towards filling the lacunae that exist in the historical record given the lack of slave narratives in French. This study argues that these narratives are important because they approach slavery in the French empire from a fresh angle. Freedom Papers reconstructs the existence of a woman named Rosalie from her entry into the slave trade through her life in Haiti. Such a biographical approach allows researchers to put an individual face on what has mostly been studied as an abstract institution. Similarly, Agnant traces the family history of Emma back to her first ancestor to make the transatlantic journey. Although Agnant’s contribution is fictional, Emma’s story captures a perspective similar to the experience of many whose ancestors were enslaved. Both stories stress the importance of writing – veritable ink on paper. It was through writing that biased historical narrative was created by former empires. It is therefore through writing that Rosalie succeeded in injecting herself into the historical record, and through writing that Emma ensures her ancestors’ story is never forgotten.

Aspects of the Narratives of Slavery in the Afro-American Literature as Represented by Harriet Jacobs and Frederick Douglass’ Works

Harriet Ann Jacobs’ Incidents in the life of a Slave Girl (1861) and Frederick Douglass’ Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave (1845) are two very significant works to show slave narratives Afro-American Literature. They provide many aspects in attempting to portray the complex sufferings and different kinds of frustrations, especially that the threat to the existence of their families and their rights as human beings in American society. The works present real stories and scenes lived by both writers in that dark era. The article makes a kind of comparison between them to highlight how both sexes suffered to the same extent. Jacobs represented the female side while Douglass represented the male side of black slaves in America through their works. The article aims to shed light on the brutal effect of slave and the crimes of the racist white American people upon these vulnerable people in a society of an ideal country in which the worst forms of racism are still practiced and the murder of George Floyd’s crime is not far from us. Therefore, it is the duty of the free people of the whole world to expose these heinous acts and work to prevent them and support the oppressed.

Music of Survival: A Search for Identity in the Works of Richard Wright

The complexly changing nature of American life and the vigorous versatility and all-encompassing spread of the written record are the marks of American literature. Social forces always make their imprint on literature. Especially in America where the democratic processes bring the people into immediate familiarity with and sensitive response to cultural forces, the literature has responded quickly to such pressures. African American literature consists of the literary work by the writers of Afro-origin settled in USA. The category“ slave narratives” were writings by people who had experienced slavery. It described their journeys to independence and their survival struggles. The concepts explored and issues raised were racism, slavery, and social equality.

Army of the Wronged: Autobiography, Political Prisoners, and Black Radicalism

Shelby presents an analysis of the warfare between Black radicals associated with the Black Panther Party and the US government during the era of the Black Power movement. Shelby observes that these would-be revolutionaries regarded US law as having no authority over them. The radicals also thought that their declaration of war was reciprocated, that state officials were self-consciously using the tactics and machinery of war to repress this internal uprising and insurgency, including killing, capturing, and incapacitating Black radicals. Shelby contends that there is truth in this characterization, and lessons to be learned from it. He explores the underlying questions of political morality through an examination and comparison of four autobiographies—by George Jackson, Huey Newton, Angela Davis, and Assata Shakur. Each spent significant time in prison, and each regarded themselves as political prisoners and, in some ways, as prisoners of war. Attention is given to the narrative conventions these authors rely on to achieve their aims, a tradition that can be traced to, but differs in important ways from, African American slave narratives.