Liberia

Liberia is a nation that has huge problems with inequality between the Congo people and the native, "Country" people.  I found it sort of ironic when we discussed this in class, because the rich, ruling class in Liberia originally were slaves in the United States.  When they came to Liberia they took over and, eventually, controlled the majority of the wealth and political power for a long time.  It's strange how the roles were reversed.  I wonder why it was so easy for the Congo people to do to the native people what had been done to them in America.  Did they not see the similarities?
Eventually, this inequality led to war, the death of President Tolbert, and the beginning of a new rule under President Doe.  Doe was one of the native people, which is why he gained so much support in the beginning.  However, he was uneducated and had no real plans for the country, which led to even more problems for Liberia.  I think that people only supported him because he was not one of the Congo people, which ended up hurting the country and its people more than ever.

Rastafari

Until last week, the only thing I knew about Rastafari was that it involved Bob Marley.  I found it to be a really interesting religion that now involves not only people of African descent, but people from all over the world.  It's not just about dreadlocks and smoking, but about peace and the fight for equality despite poor conditions for so many people in Jamaica.  It's also different from religions like Christianity or Catholicism, because the God that they worship is someone that has actually lived recently, and that people remember and have met.  But I wonder if all of the Rastas would, if the time came, actually leave Jamaica and return to Africa.  They already have lives and friends and family where they are; would they truly be able to leave all of that behind and start over just because their faith tells them that this is what they are supposed to do?  And is it really possible for that many people to actually do so?

Reconstruction

I knew that after emancipation, there still was not equality and racism was a major problem in the southern states.  However, I did not know that for the period of time known as Reconstruction, federal troops actually did enforce civil rights for African Americans, giving them temporary hope of finally being treated as equals.  I find it hard to believe that the northern states, which fought so hard in the Civil War for the freedom of slaves, could just get up and leave them to fight for themselves in the south.  In some ways, things really weren't much better for African Americans, even though slavery had technically ended.  Lynchings, for example, were common and though people like Ida B. Wells tried to speak out against them, there was not much that was done.  Without civil rights, African Americans were unable to defend themselves against the unfair and dangerous treatment they were receiving, and I think that the people in the north should have done something about it instead of just abandoning them.

Palmares

I wonder how Palmares began.  Where did the idea to set up a safe society for runaway slaves come from?  And how did it go so long without being noticed?  The people of Palmares had to set up a stable community with its own government and religion, as well as be self-sufficient and safe, before it would be able to withstand any attacks from the outside.  To do something like that would take years.  By the time that outsiders began to take notice of Palmares, it already had good defenses and many, many people to protect it.  It's a pity that we do not have any records from the people of Palmares; only from outsiders who observed them.  And these outsiders only considered them to be savages and a threat to nearby plantations.  There is obviously much more to the people of Palamares than that.  It would be interesting to see how the whole settlement actually began and turned into the legend that it is now.

African Conversion

I found it interesting that so many Africans were converted to Christianity so quickly after being taken as slaves.  Both Crowther and Equiano mention having religions of their own from their homes in Africa, and yet they both became very devoted Christians.  Did it have something to do with being kidnapped at such a young age?  Did they have something to gain by taking up the religion of their masters?

Religion and Slavery

I think it's sort of ironic that the narratives we have read so far both strongly emphasize the importance of religion in the lives of slaves.  Christianity argues that all men are equal under god, and that slavery is wrong.  Yet many slave owners were the ones who pushed religion on the Africans, and saw them as lesser people because they were not Christians too.  I don't understand how these people could claim to believe so strongly in Christianity, yet choose to ignore one of the most fundamental aspects of it.  And why did the slaves, who were not treated equally even as Christians, still choose to follow this religion so strictly?

My First Post

While I was reading about Equiano's experiences as a slave, I kept thinking back to my intro psychology course last semester.  There was a section about social psychology, which discussed racism and how it has a lot do to with not fully understanding something that is different from ourselves.  Obviously the Europeans and slave traders did not understand the Africans, but I don't think the Africans understood the Europeans and slave traders either.  

Equiano, for example, thought that they were magical, and were going to sacrifice him to keep the ship moving.  

But after such a long time together, Equiano became more and more like the Europeans.  He learned how to read and write, and even became baptized.  Many of his closest friends were free white men and women.  Why then, after so many years and so much evidence to disprove their misconceptions about each other, did slavery and racism continue?