Melanated Space – Melanated39

WORDS MATTER

In this space for us, we are dedicated to learning, unlearning, and relearning; that all starts with the words we use when it comes to ourselves, our ancestors, our people, our stories, and our history.

SLAVE - ANCESTORS, FAMILY, GRANDPARENTS, US ETC.

PLANTATION - DEATH CAMP

SLAVERY - MASSACRE, KIDNAPPING, HUMAN TRAFFICKING, RAPE, ABUSE, GENOCIDE, ETC.

OVERSEER - TORTURER, ABUSER, RAPIST, ETC.

MASTER - KIDNAPPER, RAPIST, HUMAN TRAFFICKER, ABUSER, TORTURER, PAEDOPHILE, THIEF, LIAR, ETC.

PUNISHMENT/DISCIPLINE/LYNCHING - MURDER, TOTURE, HANGING, BLOODY AND VIOLENT INJUSTICE.

Previous slide

Next slide

THE TRUTH ABOUT US

HAIR

Your hair is an extension of you; a beautiful expression. It is a powerful symbol of you and your bloodline. It is unique and resilient, it is a direct reflection of nature—it is god. It defies gravity, no matter how heavy, light, big or small a thing is. If you hold it high and release it, it falls, your hair doesn’t, it stands. Your hair is a mirror—a definition for the word love, caring for your hair teaches you how to love, it teaches you that love is patient, love is kind, love is intentional, love is observant, love is attentive, and love takes time. Doing and caring for your hair is a ritual. Suppressing your hair is suppressing yourself, it was never made to lay in silence, and that’s why the hands of products aren’t enough to restrict its brilliance. It was never meant to be concealed, suppressed or watered down, neither are you. Your crown is where energy enters your body so it should be held to the highest extent with the utmost respect and gratitude, never let the world condition you to suppress you or the greatest parts of you.

LOCS

Your locs are a deeply expressive form of you. It is one that should never be taken lightly, it holds the hands of wisdom and pushes forward growth. Energy enters and leaves the body through your head—through your hair, and with locs that energy is kept and held, leaving it to remain. Locs not only teaches love, but it teaches you the importance of growth, boundaries, trust, and self-love. Boundaries because with locs comes a different level of protection for oneself. The fact that whatever energy you come into contact with stays with you, it leads you to be intentional with whomever you associate yourself with, who you speak to, share energy with, and who touches you and your crown, it makes you more aware of the energy and intentions of the people around you. It creates a more disciplined version of you, this form of your hair teaches you to appreciate and respect yourself. It leads you to understand your worth and protect it. Trust because the process of your hair being loced teaches you how to be patient and present, it teaches you to trust the process and believe in it. It teaches you the beauty and power of submission when you release control to the right thing. It teaches you how to let go and simply be. A mirror for life. The greatest things are always the ones that are not meant to be controlled—cannot be controlled, for example, love. Locs teach you self-love, it teaches you to love and accept yourself in every aspect from every angle, a lot of people neglect this part of the journey by putting down and demonizing the first chapter by calling it the ugly phase when really that phase is the most powerful. It teaches you to relinquish control, it mirrors the beginning of a new chapter, it shows you a new side of yourself that you have to accept—you naked, without any ‘beauty covers/standards of society’ just you. Locs is a journey that leads you to accept every part of you in the spaces that you are afraid to—in the spaces of you that you were taught not to love. Growth because of all, because any energy that enters you can not be pushed to the side so all has to be faced, reflected upon, accepted and nurtured, good or bad which leads to growth.

Previous slide

Next slide

AFFIRMATIONS TO KINFOLK

These affirmations are given as something to hold onto while you learn, unlearn and relearn. Never forget who you are and just what it means to be you. You are much more than they say, and much more than you know. Your melanin shines to perfection and your hair stands in unity and power. You are loved and you are needed. You matter. Every inch of you is perfection, you are God. Never forget all who came before you just for you to be here, your existence is intentional, you matter.

You matter.

You are safe.

Your emotions matter.

It's okay to feel.

You are seen.

You are loved.

You are appreciated.

You are never alone.

You are needed.

You are melanated.

Previous slide

Next slide

TREADMILL

In today’s society, the treadmill is a machine often found in a gym that we use to help build endurance and strength, but during slavery, treadmills served as a form of torture that was used against our ancestors (us), when we failed an attempt to escape their death camps. The treadmills mirrored the shape of a cylinder and carried a number of stairs that we had to step on with a generous amount of pressure, which would get the machine to work. While we were on these treadmills—for times even days—we were forced to wear little to no clothes and would be beaten with the use of a whip if we showed any signs of fatigue.

GENOCIDE

REASONS FOR MURDER

MISTER JOHN STONER

Murdered in 1909 for suing the white man who killed his cow.

MISTER FRANK DODD

Murdered in 1916 for annoying a white woman.

TRAYVON MARTIN

Murdered at seventeen in 2012 for looking suspicious.

DANIELS FAMILY

Murdered in 1879 for having a $50 bill.

MISS ELIZABETH LAWRENCE

Murdered in 1933 for reprimanding white children who threw rocks at her.

MISTER JESSE THORNTON

Murdered in 1940 for addressing a white police officer without the title of mister.

THE WALKER FAMILY

Murdered in 1908 for talking back to a white man.

MISTER OLIVER MOORE

Murdered in 1930 for frightening a white girl and a white woman’s lies.

MISTER HENRY PATTERSON

Murdered in 1926 for asking a white woman for a drink of water.

MISTER WILLIE JAMES HOWARD

Murdered at fifteen in 1944 for sending a love note to a white girl.

MISTER RAYMOND GUNN

Murdered in 1931 for the false accusation of murder and to instill fear into the black community.

MISTER GENERAL LEE

Murdered in 1904 for knocking on a white woman’s door.

Previous slide

Next slide

TRUAMA FROM SLAVERY

RAISING OUR FUTURE: WHY SONS ARE HELD SO CLOSE

During slavery mothers (we) birthed their (our) sons knowing at a certain point in their lives they would become vulnerable to the reality of being taken away and human trafficked to another death camp. This would happen when our sons looked strong enough/grown enough—as if they held the ability to be human trafficked for a high price. So while our sons were still present in our lives we would hold them closer and try to make them appear as young as possible, so they would remain with the family for longer. This tactic of trying to keep our children was also aided by the act of demeaning and bad-mouthing them to others for instance if the kidnapper would make a comment about our child saying “he looks strong and healthy,” we would respond by saying “he is weak and sickly.” as to prevent separation. This traumatic experience is one that has traveled through bloodlines and is now repeated as an unconscious act in our culture, with mothers holding their sons closer and making their children seem less than when they receive a compliment from someone.

RAISING OUR FUTURE: THE LACK OF PROTECTION FOR DAUGHTERS

On death camps, our daughters were vulnerable to being raped/sexually assaulted at the first sight of growth. Speaking up or fighting for our daughters, would result in torture, rape or murder, and because of this, a new tactic of safety had to be created. From that reality, came our families trying to keep our daughters covered up, and looking and remaining as young as possible so that they would not attract the eyes of the raping kidnappers/rapists. This traumatic experience is one of many that sparks the need for us to tell our daughters to cover up, as well as the fear of them being too ‘grown’ or too ‘open’ in the presence of men. The voice to protect and speak out is one that has been lost. After all the years and all the collective and individual experiences, we are now conditioned to police our daughters instead of protecting them. This trauma response is still practised today as many are afraid of our girls looking ‘too grown’ without recognising where it stems from and the effect it has on our girls on the receiving end hearing that their growth and clothes are the issues, and not the people putting them in unsafe spaces and crossing their boundaries without consent.

Previous slide

Next slide

MESSAGES TO KINFOLK

THERE’S NO EXCUSE FOR THE YOUNG PEOPLE NOT KNOWING WHO THE HEROES AND HEROINES ARE OR WERE.

SOMETIMES IT’S WORSE TO WIN A FIGHT THAN TO LOSE.

A CHILD CANNOT BE TAUGHT BY ANYONE WHO DESPISES HIM, AND A CHILD CANNOT AFFORD TO BE FOOLED.

IF YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE DOING SOMETHING, THE SPIRITS WILL COME AND HELP YOU.

THERE’S A TIME WHEN YOU HAVE TO EXPLAIN TO YOUR CHILDREN WHY THEY’RE BORN, AND IT’S A MARVELLOUS THING IF YOU KNOW THE REASON BY THEN.

IF A MAN HAS NOT DISCOVERED SOMETHING THAT HE WILL DIE FOR, HE ISN'T FIT TO LIVE.

A PEOPLE WITHOUT THE KNOWLEDGE OF THEIR PAST HISTORY, ORGIN AND CULTURE IS LIKE A TREE WITHOUT ROOTS.

A MAN WHO VIEWS THE WORLD THE SAME AT FIFTY AS HE DID AT TWENTY WASTED THIRTY YEARS OF HIS LIFE.

Previous slide

Next slide

NEGUS

My last vessel was thrown in an unmarked grave, I was a Negus but my descendants now call me a slave, I was killed by my kidnapper but my descendants call him my master. I was hung high in the same tree that gave me life by allowing me to breathe, I was hung with a rope around my neck, I was hung and called a nigger before my last breath. I heard nigger before I died, Now I reincarnate in this lifetime, To see my people call each other nigga with a smile.

ADDED LEAF

I am the added leaf to the tree, I am the added leaf that sways in the breeze, I am the added leaf whose eyes push forward, I am the added leaf who bleeds from the tree, I am the added leaf that they place there, I am the added leaf that will stay here, Until they are ready to reuse the branch around my neck for someone else, Until there is nothing left because nature took my shell. I am the added leaf whose colour brought them here, I am the added leaf that they stare at without any grief, I am the added leaf who will remain in pain, Because the day I disappear my people will label me not their ancestor but a demon or a slave, I am the added leaf that was never supposed to be placed on a tree.

Previous slide

Next slide

POETRY FOR KINFOLK

WHAT THEY LEFT

FAMILY REUNION

The tradition and creation of family reunions was birthed by us. This concept dates back to emancipation when our formerly enslaved family members began to carry out the task of reuniting with the family they were ripped apart from during slavery. The task wasn’t an easy one since when we were kidnapped and human trafficked away from our homes and brought to different death camps, our first names were forcibly taken and replaced without our consent, and then we were given the last name of our kidnapper. There was also the reality that you could wake up and your family member could be gone and human trafficked to another death camp, and when they arrived they would be renamed once again as their last name would be changed to the last name of their new kidnappers, and their first could be changed as well, which made it harder for us to find each other when emancipation took place. So when the time came to find each other, it was a difficult task for us to locate our family members, but we still made the effort to reunite despite all the challenges that we faced. We used newspaper advertisements, letters, and word of mouth as a part of our search with the hope it might lead to a reunion with our family members. Some family members were found, and sadly, some were not due to death, the fact they no longer carried the name they once had, even the fact they had been human-trafficked to another country and many other reasons. This left some of us still separated and without family or any family history, but this act of us finding each other birthed what we know today as family reunions since after finding our family we made a promise to stay in touch, by meeting up on specific dates, holidays, etc. to remain united, celebrate family and each other, meet new and old family members, cook, dance, tell stories, and more. Today the tradition of family reunions is still alive but not nearly as much as before. The concept and tradition is a powerful one and it started with us. It is another piece of our history that we cannot let die.

LANGUAGE - PATIOS, CREOLE, ETC.

In this beginning was the word. We left language because we understood that we needed our own. This is why we created and spoke patios, creole, etc. The stories will tell you that it was because we couldn’t grasp the kidnappers' language, but we were never stupid. You had those who were born in these death camps growing up around the kidnappers' language and learning how to speak it, but still had to know the ins and outs of patio, creole, etc. We had writers using the kidnappers' language on a daily basis to create books in secrecy, some even taught their own to read and write using the language. We always had the ability to do so just as we do now, we just chose not to because we understood the importance and power of owning our tongue. It was a form of rebellion, an act of revolution—an act of freedom. A journey to reclaiming self. The various languages we created could not be understood by the kidnappers, and it gave us the freedom to speak and plan without them knowing. We all spoke different languages depending on where in Africa we came from, but with the tongue created by us, we could understand and speak to each other in secret and simply play it off by using the kidnappers' ignorance and ego of him believing we were stupid against him, as we instead say, ‘his language is too hard for us.’ It was our common language when we got to the death camps. It was a form of connection and unity. This reality is why teaching anyone outside of us our created tongue is seen as not the done thing because it is a larger and more powerful part of our history than we know. This small act led to freedom, being able to communicate started and built where we are now. It’s a reason why they can’t understand us and a reason why they shouldn’t be able to.

Previous slide

Next slide