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Iron Egress: Beyond the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade

 

Photo by I.am_nah on Unsplash


March 29th, 2022

Afro-Latina; in this dream, I only remember that I had been discussing this kind of ethnic heritage with someone, but I’m not sure of the context. During the conversation, I even remember seeing the visage of an Afro-Latina woman with honey-colored skin and a big curly afro. The dream changed tones quite dramatically from here when a disembodied voice said, “research the white slaves of Egypt, Asia, and other countries.” In the waking world, I decided to research the white slave trade in Egypt and found it fascinating indeed.  The articles I've read speak of the Circassian slaves of Egypt from Georgia and the Barbary slave trade that involved peoples from Ireland, the Netherlands, Italy, Iceland, Southwest Britain, and the Eastern Mediterranean. Both of these were said by some to have lasted hundreds of years. As I continued my search, I only found more information on human trafficking that I didn't know I didn't know. Among these articles was a document that spoke of the slave trade of Africans throughout Asia, something I had heard in passing but never bothered researching for myself.

For me, as an African American, the legacy of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade feels inescapable. It feels as though I'm cyclically reminded of my genealogical descent from defeat and oppression. Though my ancestors were strong enough to endure, they were broken and abused for having physical traits that I possess. Sometimes reading old articles from those times feels the same as reading something printed yesterday because words are timeless; they don't change. The voices of the past speak to me as if the writers themself are still alive and directing at me the fullness of their bigotry. Despite how ridiculous that might sound, It still feels that way. Ghosts are very real; they speak to us from beyond the grave through words in the pages of a book. I believe that this is called a "residual haunting."

As our wider society continues to talk about the Trans-Atlantic slave trade and its impact, we should remember to talk about it in its entirety. I wish we include things like the Trans-Saharan slave trade, the Indian Ocean slave trade (also known as the East African slave trade), the Coolie slave trade, the Barbary slave trade, and many more; however, when talking about these things we should never start with slavery itself. Slavery is not the beginning of a people's history; it is more akin to an involuntary exodus that many people groups have experienced over the millennia. I digress; I don't know why I dreamed this, but I'm glad I did. As twisted as this might sound, there is a comfort in knowing that the experience of slavery was, and is, shared across ethnic groups, and it wasn't just an Afro-American experience. It is a big part of the story of humanity.

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