Saturday, June 19th has turned out to be a powerful day in the African diaspora.
Earlier this week, the United States Congress held a vote to commemorate June 19th as a Federal holiday. This momentous decision, signed into law by President Joe Biden, goes a significant way towards addressing the imbalances within American society as it relates to people of African descent.
In Trinidad and Tobago, June 19th, is commemorated as Labour Day. The day is observed as a national holiday and recalls a massive strike for worker’s rights. The protest action was led by Tubal Uriah ‘Buzz’ Butler and other union leaders in 1937.
For most black business owners, work is the dominant feature of our lives. Today, June 19th is significant because it celebrates people who fought for the rights of workers in Trinidad & Tobago (TT). This in addition the emancipation of African Americans whose labour helped to build the United States of America.
Work vs. Enslavement
“The colonies needed labour…”
Deprived of their freedom for hundreds of years, African ancestors have not been able to choose how and where to work. Taken from their home in Africa solely for this reason – to use their labour with the end goal of making profits for their enslavers. Their work produced the goods desired by Europeans including cotton, tobacco, rice and rum. In what came to be described as the Triangular Trade, Africans were exchanged for commodities – firearms, gun powder, cloth or brandy from Europe. After that they were transported, similar to cargo such as potatoes, codfish or sacks of sugar, to plantations across the Caribbean and the American south. “The triangle end marked by the voyage from the West Indies to the metropolitan country. Sugar and other Caribbean products were received in exchange” for enslaved Africans.
In business, you win some, you lose some
The Middle Passage was the journey from Africa to the plantations. It was the second or middle leg of a three-part journey that started and ended in Europe. During the ocean crossing, often 200-300 souls were tightly packed in the hold of the ship. Disease and death were typical of this horrendous journey. Sharks, the messengers of death, followed the African slave ships. They circled and devoured every black body thrown overboard. The high 20 percent African death rate during the Middle Passage was nonetheless “regarded merely as an unfortunate trading loss…”
Generations of enforced work
“The vast majority of enslaved Africans employed in plantation agriculture were field hands. Even on plantations, however, they worked in other capacities. Some were domestics and worked as butlers, waiters, maids, seamstresses, and launderers. Others assigned as carriage drivers, hostlers, and stable boys. Artisans—carpenters, stonemasons, blacksmiths, millers, coopers, spinners, and weavers—were also employed as part of plantation labour forces.”
National Geographic
Many of the horrors of enslavement EW well documented. it is important to note however that the 400-year long system of chattel slavery condemned generations of people to the reality that their sole purpose was to work for the benefit of their enslavers.
This system was self-sustaining because African humanity has been denied by repressive laws. Fake science aided also and declared Africans to be intellectually sub-standard and culturally poor. The erosion continued with the systematic undermining of African spirituality and cultural norms. This bad situation grew further through distrust and division in African colour, age, even gender. The objective was to break the spirit and character of the African and make them more amenable to accepting their enslavement. Compliance was essential to fulfilling the purpose of their captivity, that is, the maintenance of the plantation system and the wealth of its owners in the Caribbean, the United States and Europe.
A Global Economic System Built on the Work of Africans
“The triangular trade provided a market in West Africa and the West Indies for metropolitan products, thereby increasing metropolitan exports and contributing to full employment at home. The purchase of the slaves on the coast of West Africa and their maintenance in the West Indies gave an enormous stimulus to metropolitan industry and agriculture.”
Dr. Eric Williams
For hundreds of years, the global economic system depended on the trade of human beings. The wealth of European and American cities depended on it. As early as the 1940’s Dr. Eric Williams created a disturbance in academic circles with his meticulous following of the money trail from Europe to Africa through the Caribbean, the United States and back to Europe.
Since the publication of Dr. Williams’ seminal work ‘Capitalism and Slavery’, historians such as Dr. Hilary Beckles have broadened Williams’ research. He meticulously documents links between enslavement and the British Royal family, Members of Parliament and the Church of England.
African labour and resistance
“In 1814 a suggestion was made that all slaves illicitly imported into the British dominions should immediately be declared free. Wilberforce vetoed it: ‘our object and our universal language was and is, to produce by abolition a disposition to breed instead of buying.’… It was not until 1823 that the abolitionists adopted the policy of emancipation, being driven to it, to a considerable extent, by colonial attacks on the missionaries.”
Dr. Eric Williams
In Caribbean schools, we were led to believe that the enslavement of our African ancestors came to an end largely due to the tireless work of abolitionists such as William Wilberforce and others. Those of us fortunate enough to have access to non-colonial education knew that there were other reasons that the system could not hold.
African resistance
A critical factor was that even as they laboured, Africans resisted enslavement. In TT, the setting on fire of cane-fields led to an Emancipation tradition called Canboulay. Canboulay derives from the Kikongo word ‘Kambule’ meaning procession. Alternatively, Canboulay derives from the French word ‘Cannes Brûlées’ meaning burning cane. The tradition re-enacted the procession by the enslaved into the burning fields to put out the fires and save the master’s sugar crop. Historians believe the enslaved set the fires themselves as a form of resistance.
Apart from the destruction of crops, Africans ran away, committed suicide, worked slowly. They waged rebellion and even killed newborns rather than expose any more children to such a brutish existence. Additionally, enough Africans held on to their spirituality to allow for the survival and growth of African-derived belief systems. These religions exist today as Ifa/Orisa in TT, Cadomble in Brazil, Santeria in Cuba, or Vodou in Haiti.
Sadly in spite of the resistance, the brutality of enslavement lasted from the 15th century until the 1880s.
Black Business and Labour in the 21st Century
“The global virus pandemic is profoundly affecting the world of work. In addition to the threat to public health, the economic and social disruption threatens the long-term livelihoods and wellbeing of millions.”
In Trinidad and Tobago, even before Butler rose to prominence as a labour leader, activist Elma Francois focused her attention on black workers. She became one of the founding members of the Negro Welfare Cultural and Social Association (NWCSA). As a leader within NWCSA she lobbied for better treatment of the working classes.
International Labour Organisation (ILO)
Over the decades other leaders emerged. Their main objective was to assert the rights of working-class employees to be fairly rewarded for their labour. They included George Weekes, charismatic and respected President General of the Oilfields Workers Trade Union (O.W. T.U). CLR James who brought ideological clarity to the struggle. And Clotil Walcott who fought unceasingly for domestic workers through her organisation, National Union of Domestic Employees.
A New Direction
In 2021, as the world slowly accepts the lingering impacts of African enslavement and treats with the devastating effects of a pandemic, we have an opportunity to determine the type of leadership needed to chart a new direction for the purpose and value of work in the African community. For instance, in the Caribbean, what is the role of trade unions? Should they encourage black business and a greater sense of entrepreneurship? How may we reorganise work to provide greater support to families? How can we reduce stress and foster a better quality of life for the African community?
As we contemplate the legacy of Labour Day and celebrate the Juneteenth holiday it is imperative that we place emphasis on developing the ability of people within the African community. ‘Thus, the focus must be to increase the ability to either start or expand their businesses. Further, deep, systemic imbalances remain. So there must be a consciousness of sustaining black businesses. Black businesses can achieve support through purchasing goods and services, direct funding, targeted networking and other forms of support.
This is the goal of BOOM, to uplift the African community through business. In addition we offer practical advice, affordable business development services, a network of committed business owners and content such as videos, blogs and other information to support, inspire and motivate.
We Support Black Entrepreneurs. It is Our Business.
On behalf of the BOOM community of black entrepreneurs, we look to the wisdom of *Sankofa and pay respect to the millions of Africans over the centuries who worked tirelessly to achieve emancipation. Above all, we also acknowledge the countless business owners who are striving to build back our families, reclaim their right to work and inspire future generations.
Sankofa means “Go back and get it”. As the Akan proverb goes, “Se wo were fi na wosan kofa a yenkyiri’. Thus, it is not taboo to go back and get something after you have forgotten it. More literally, it means if you forget and you go back to get it, there is nothing wrong with that.
