Press Area The Healing of Africa Monument Project, Written by British Journalist, Mr. Carl Palmer
Introduction
The Healing of Africa Monument Project
"Their memories will be cherished when pyramids and monuments shall have crumbled in dust. The flood of time, which is sweeping away the refuge of lies, is bearing on the advocates of our cause to a glorious immortality."
Robert Purvis, at an Anti Slavery Convention in 1833 (c. 1840)
The Healing of Africa Project has a clear objective: To unite and empower the world through art, to promote peace, forgiveness and healing. Yes, it will be saturated in symbolism, but more importantly, in celebrating and commemorating our history, go further still. It will allow us all to closely survey a crucial legacy of slavery, namely, the way in which those descended from slaves, as well as those descended from slave owners or a slave-owning society, view themselves and each other today.
Lighting up the world on what was one of the worst violations of human rights in the history of humanity is what the monument will do. The transatlantic slave trade was unique within the entire history of slavery due to its duration (four hundred years), its scale (approximately 17 million people excluding those who died during transport) and the legitimization accorded to it.
Lasting from the 16th century to the 19th century, it involved several regions and continents: Africa, North and South America, Europe and the Caribbean, and resulted in the sale and exploitation of millions of Africans by Europeans. That sense of globalization cannot be lost through collective amnesia now.
Two hundred years after what should have heralded the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade, there is still no universal monument to honour the millions of Africans who suffered and died to help heal the residual pain we still endure. In a large part, this becomes the raison d´etre for The Healing of Africa Monument.
Set in The Gambia, the monument will break the long silence, educate, and mark the slave trade through art and culture. While no written or verbal definition of slavery can adequately convey the full extent of the damage such a trade causes, this monument can form part of a wider flagship development project, and prove a catalyst for further economic empowerment.
The quote above from Purvis, the son of a wealthy cotton broker, is appropriate only to remind us of the fundamental instinct for freedom we all possess. Consequently, the historic importance of this project is, inevitably, allied to the need to give expression to our basic humanity.
In fact, the heroic struggles of our forbears throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries lie at the very heart of this project - their vision and struggle providing a solid foundation and inspiration.
While the names of whites in the abolitionist movement and their role in putting a systematic end to slavery are routinely commended, this has been at the expense of lauding the huge contribution and names of enslaved Africans themselves, who are unacknowledged, ignored, or worse, completely forgotten. The Healing of Africa Monument will pay loud tribute to the likes of Toussaint L´Ouverture, Olaudah Equiano, Ottobah Cugoano, Jean Jacques Dessalines, Nanny of the Maroons, Cudjoe, Cuffay, and countless others.
They alone make us conscious of their telling triumphs, not least the many uprisings and spontaneous rebellions among enslaved Africans, which eventually helped make the appalling system of slavery untenable.
Equiano, who at the age of 11, was abducted from his Igbo village in West Africa, sold into slavery, and approximately thirty years later, as an emancipated slave, went on to publish his autobiography. It was not only translated for European readers, but was a bestseller of the day as well as a powerful influence for the abolition of slavery.
They might not have been called monuments, but as far back as the late nineteenth century, enslaved Africans, men and women, have empowered themselves as warriors for freedom rather than accepting their chattel status. They showed that even when beset by poverty of means, there was no lack of brave endeavour on their part.
It is time to meet the same aspirations of those who initiated it, bridge the gap and through a commemorative structure, appraise where we have all come from, view the stops along the way, where we are at present, and how to embrace each day towards a better future.
The Healing of Africa Monument sculpture is currently being designed. Made out of clay and then cast into bronze, it will be unlike any public monument in history because it is one the people of the African Diaspora and supporters will claim complete ownership of. This act of global union puts us all on the same pages in history.
If there is consensus, let it be in wanting a monument and what it will represent. With the short and long-term benefits to people across the world a prime motivation for the monument, the words of Amilcar Cabral, who in 1962 led a military conflict to attain independence for both Portuguese Guinea and Cape Verde, come to mind. He said: "Liberation for us is to take back our destiny and history."
Remember, before we were made slaves, we were scientists, philosophers, architects, medics, astrologers, mathematicians, and skilled in commerce. Leo Africanus, writing about Timbuctu in 1550, said: "There you will find many judges, professors and devout men, all handsomely maintained by the king, who holds scholars in much honour … There too they sell many handwritten north African books, and more profit is to be made there from the sale of books than from any other branch of trade."
Internationally acclaimed sculptor Donald Brown is the first to concede that it is no small honour to be at the forefront of such a huge artistic undertaking, his extraordinary passion and commitment exciting minds in every continent. The project – a monument to slavery from cruel inception to the present day - has already acquired significant impetus in Britain, America, and elsewhere.
Brown does not, however, settle for mere poignancy and measured atonement. He attests that once the sculpture has laid its foundations in one African country, it will continue to evolve with a physical chain reappearing in Jamaica, America, Brazil and other countries. Each sculpture will be different and illuminate the incomplete pages of history books that don’t say enough about this shameful period.
Renowned for its place in our history, The Gambia, where as many as three million slaves were taken from the region during the three centuries that the transatlantic slave trade operated, is where the monument will begin. Part of the design will feature the giant figure of a strong, defiant ancestor taking hold of a chain and breaking it apart. The chain will cascade down the sculpture, symbolically vanishing into the depths of the earth. The chain will rise up again in another African country and beyond, thereby achieving another perspective on the effects and vast spread of the slave trade.
The slave trade and its legacies are today being acknowledged by countries around the world. It is also true that slavery continues, in different forms, in many countries around the world. The Gambian Government has designated the land, for the location and sanctity of The Healing Of Africa Monument. The eventual site will host a myriad of venues to further enhance the spiritual pilgrimage that will be made by visitors to this Holy Ground.
Putting it succinctly, Brown states: "The short and long-term benefits as they pertain to a worldwide audience will further help awaken the public´s understanding, need, and appreciation of a project of this magnitude.
“The over-arching objective of this project is to unite and empower the world through art. To promote peace, forgiveness, and healing. To celebrate and commemorate our history; our survival, and, to inspire hope for future generations through the creation and installation of a monument."
It is widely recognized among academics, that monuments in Africa are nothing new. The Ikom monoliths of Cross River in Nigeria. Wa Naa´s Palace (Ghana), Loropeni Ruins (Burkina Faso), Medracen and el-Khroub Numidian Royal Mausolea (Algeria), Al Azhar Mosque in Fez (Morocco), The ancient baths of Qusayr ´Amra (Jordan), and Bumbusi National Monument (Zimbabwe), are all testimony to that.
At a glance, there are today iconic structures in every corner of the world. Oceania has Sydney Harbour Bridge; Europe, the Eiffel Tower and the Tower of London; North America has the Statue of Liberty; Africa, The Pyramids; India, The Taj Mahal; and The Great Wall of China is in Asia.
In short, the heroic struggles of our forbears in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries warrant a dedicated memorial. Not just to recognize the institution of slavery with all its associated racial and dehumanizing connotations as practiced in the United States and elsewhere, but to avoid the possibility of disrespectful anonymity. As used to justify their actions, those captured and used in the slave trade were neither criminals, outsiders, nor prisoners of war. It also resulted in the destruction of a significant portion of the language, culture and religion of millions of enslaved Africans.
The removal of such large numbers of people from Africa disrupted the African economy and as believed by some scholars, permanently disadvantaged Africa compared to other parts of the world. To find how much slavery redefined Africans to the world, leaving a legacy of racism and stereotyping of Africans as inferior, maybe you just have to look around.
Slavery remains an emotive, painful subject but one that we should not shy away from. In this context, it is widely accepted that the only way to move forward is to first look back and learn the lessons of the past. Whilst marking the 200th anniversary of the passing of the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act 1807 in the British parliament, followed by the same in the US in 2008, it must be remembered that the abduction, transportation and selling of slaves didn't stop immediately. It was, however, an important first step in righting a gross abuse of fundamental human rights.
In 1948, the UN proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, calling on all member countries to publicize the text of the declaration and "to cause it to be disseminated, displayed, read and expounded principally in schools and other educational institutions, without distinction based on the political status of countries or territories". The Healing of Africa Monument applauds that level of engagement.
Even the Old and New Testaments recognize the institution of slavery, though it leans towards references to bonded labor rather than the slavery as practiced in the United States and elsewhere. In Christian cemeteries, when slaves were buried, the gravesite seldom included any indication that the person buried had been a slave.
But look around any major city in the world and you will find statues to commemorate a local person of note. Politicians, soldiers, engineers, philanthropists and the like all get recognized. Yet, those great cities with links to the slave trade have no such monument to reflect it. Nothing to show how many Africans and people of African descent lives were changed forever by the activities of slave traders.
So why a monument to slavery now? Quite simply, because the where? when? and how? are questions, which need more representation. The history of slavery and its abolition is a shared history, and one that is relevant to nations past and present.
The Healing of Africa Monument
The aim of the monument is to celebrate the African Diaspora and, starting with a small piece of clay, every Founding Patron will immediately make a personal connection with the project. Erected at what will become a towering landmark site, taller than America´s Statue of Liberty, it will stand in perpetual commemoration of the lasting legacy of the transatlantic slave trade. The monument will do many things, including the questioning of slavery´s contemporary legacy and its relevance today and in the future.
For all the anger and disquiet the subject still engenders, Brown´s work is very much concerned with the resonance of the experience of slavery, within the context of its ability to heal as well as inspire. In his words: "The enormous contribution made to this planet by people of African ancestry goes unacknowledged to this day."
The monument will not tell the whole story of more than 2,000 years, when people from all over the world were forced by their fellow humans into slavery. Between about 1500 and 1900, Europeans forcibly uprooted millions of people from throughout West Africa and West Central Africa, shipping them across the Atlantic in conditions of great cruelty. The Healing of Africa Monument will represent husbands and wives. Not slaves. Fathers and mothers. Not slaves. Sons and daughters. Not slaves. Whether they were Yoruba, Kongolese, Igbo, or Akan, they the African Diaspora, will take back their history and identity.
The monument will in spirit reflect that the peoples of West Africa had a rich and varied history and culture long before European slavers arrived. From kingdoms to city-states and other organizations, they each had their own languages and culture.
West Africans had traded with Europeans through merchants in North Africa for centuries, and from that first contact in the pursuit of precious items such as gold, ivory and spices, particularly pepper, European traders kidnapped and bought Africans for sale in Europe. It was around the 17th century, when plantation owners demanded more and more slaves to satisfy the increasing demand for sugar in Europe, that transatlantic slaving became the dominant trade.
Although the monument will feature a man dismantling his chains, that in no way subjugates the great burden which fell to women to rebuild their cruelly decimated and violated communities. This too, should never be forgotten.
Brown is aware that it would be easy to come across as worthy or even controversial, when, in fact, the project in the form of a monument places a significant burden on his shoulders. It would be useful to remember that he is dealing with a very real issue, however difficult or uncomfortable it maybe to perceive. At worst, he maybe accused of generalization. But at best, this is an opportunity for symbolic reparation, with an international perspective, and a global point of reference, too good to miss.
Is it not a withering indictment, that given the impact of the African Diaspora on the United States that there is no permanent exhibit on the slave trade per se in North America? Yes, the American Museum of Natural History touches on the concept of slavery but this could not really be described as a comprehensive exploration.
Consider too, the fact that before 1776, almost every black New Yorker was enslaved. By 1790, one in three was free, but not a single image of a black New Yorker survives from their first 170 years in the city. It was around 1790, academics believe, that black people began to appear in pictures of the city.
By definition, The Healing of Africa Monument builds on the legacy of transatlantic slavery based on Brown´s studied artistic interpretation. It is designed to do more than stimulate interest in the importance of the slave trade and its impact across different continents. It won´t just be the visual impact that it will have on visitors to The Gambia, The President of The Gambia, His Excellency Yahya A. J. J. Jameh, has met Brown on several occasions regarding The Healing of Africa Project. Meetings were also arranged with village Elders and the descendents of Kunta Kinte, a Mandinka, born around 1750 in Juffure along the Gambia River. He was captured in 1767 and shipped to the United States. Arriving in Annapolis, Maryland he is sold to John Waller and renamed Toby. His story is famously told by Alex Haley in the novel Roots. Indeed, he is the quintessential model for this project. Kunta Kinte symbolizes both the tragedy of American slavery and the heroism of those who endured it.
After listening to Brown through an interpreter, all of the Elders were gracious in their approval of the project before extending numerous blessings and prayers for the projects success.
Brown and his accompanying delegation travelled to James Island, where many of the enslaved Africans were held before being shipped off to foreign lands, for The Healing of Africa Initiation Ceremony.
After the presentation to more than 100 visitors, Brown broke off a small piece of clay and gave a piece to each person. One by one they took their clay and bent down to the ground to symbolize the depth to which our ancestors were taken, and mingled the clay with the dirt on which the slaves walked. Standing up to in acknowledgement of our subsequent rise to great heights, and placed their pieces of clay together as one, on a brick wall to show strength and unity.
The Initiation Ceremony was continued on the mainland in Kanoli. A sample of the soil was taken to a special banquet hosted by the President. After a presentation to the hundreds in attendance, Brown presented the President with his piece of clay. The President then dipped his piece of clay into the dirt that was taken from James Island and placed it on top of the clay that was assembled by the guests at James Island. This collective lump of clay will be the very first piece of clay that will be used to begin the creation of the monument.
A critical void will be filled by The Healing of Africa Monument like nothing has managed to do before. At long last we will not only have something to tell of the slaves suffering, losses and eventual triumphs, but a vehicle that commemorates the enduring legacy of slavery in a candid and honest way. It surely cannot be right that everywhere you can find monuments to almost anything else, from statues of kings and queens, to the holocaust and iconic structures, but nothing which exists to relate the same about the history of slavery.
We want the Healing of Africa Monument because it matters, and to show how much it matters. It will endure because monuments by their very nature are supposed to last and be there for future generations to discuss and interpret. We want this part of our culture to be permanent and remembered; so that those same future generations may reach the conclusion that the monument must be very important for it to have been built in the first place.
There is undoubtedly an abiding interest in the history of slavery across the world, and therefore a need for it to be acknowledged. However, without a monument of significant stature and prominence, the forever-unquenchable spirit of people of African ancestry remains bereft of a huge amount of integrity it deserves.