Sounds of anguish, terror and tranquility will help people understand the atrocities of being in bondage, said William Cole, a Syracuse University professor of African-American studies.
Cole will perform a song titled "The Journey" on the didgeridoo, an Australian instrument, to commemorate the bicentennial of the abolition of the trans-Atlantic slave trade and raise awareness of human rights struggles. He said he chose the instrument because it can be manipulated to make sounds that echo bondage.
"I think the journey is not ended yet," Cole said.
"The Journey" will occur during the closing night of the Africa Initiative's "Validating the Humanity of All," a series of speakers and discussions that started Tuesday and will run until Monday. The event commemorates the abolition of the trans-Atlantic slave trade and the Black Holocaust that continues today. Human rights issues from the slave trade, to sex trafficking to genocide lead the dialogues.
"We believe the commemoration of the Black Holocaust is important to remember the past in order to transform the future," said Horace Campbell, professor of African-American studies at SU and director of the Africa Initiative, a campus-wide project within the department of African-American studies.
The intellectual culture is still underdeveloped, he said, adding he believes the realities of genocide and white supremacy still dominate the curriculum of schools. The program's first goal is to educate the Syracuse community about the Black Holocaust.
"The struggle to abolish slavery is the struggle to abolish all forms of bondage and servitude," Campbell said.
Campbell organized the program after the United Nations designated Monday, March 26 as a day to commemorate the bicentennial of the abolition of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. But the program commemorates more than the slave trade. It also discusses the ways slavery still exists today, he said.
Millions of black Americans were killed during the trans-Atlantic slave trade and during their servitude, said Sundiata Salaam, a graduate student in Pan African studies and part of one of the program's discussions. It was a systematic genocide against black Americans, he said. The systematic way of killing people still exists today as part of the Black Holocaust.
"Humanity has been denied consistently and is still being denied," he said. There is a more subtle manifestation of this denial of humanity now, compared to the slave trade. But it is important to understand that it is happening and what it means, Salaam said.
"We look at things in a vacuum," he said.
The week's events began with a keynote address Tuesday evening by Adam Hochschild, author of two books that discuss the injustices Africans have faced. Hochschild set the scene of the trans-Atlantic slave trade for the students, faculty and community members who gathered in Hendricks Chapel to listen to him speak.
Forty thousand slaves were transported each year, not just to British colonies, but other European nations as well, he said. The conditions were horrible. Close to 500 rebellions on the ships were documented. But uprisings were so routine most were never entered in the records. They were brutally suppressed.
"It's a story that even though it happened 200 years ago, it's one that I hope we can take some inspiration from today, because the battle against injustice is by no means won," Hochschild said.
Events continued Tuesday with a round table discussion on trafficking and modern-day slavery, led by Linda Carty, associate professor of African-American studies at SU. Participants discussed the atrocities occurring today and the measures that need to be taken to fix them.
"Class collusion is being played out on the poor bodies of these black people," Carty said. "It's about ruling class collusion."
The program is relevant because slavery still exists, said Lillian Baker, a graduate assistant to the Africa Initiative. It is overwhelmingly connected to economics.
"It dehumanizes everyone: those enslaved and those allowing it to continue," she said.
The program continues this week with a film series and concludes Monday with a keynote address by author and professor Sam Anderson in Bird Library. Anderson wrote "The Black Holocaust for Beginners" and will speak about the human rights struggles of the 21st century.
Eric Spina, vice chancellor of SU, acknowledged the program as an example of "scholarship in action" during his introduction of keynote speaker Adam Hochschild Tuesday night.
"They have helped us really turn the mirror on ourselves and our humanity," Spina said.
Be the first to comment on this article!