I grew up during 'The Revolution' in the US. During that time and ever since, I was always told to look to Africa for my heritage. Later in life, I found that my heritage was far more diverse than just a people from one continent. However, I always took pride in that some of my ancestry is African. One problem I had even as a child learning about the evils of slavery and its legacy for everyone who was born after it was put down in the US was; nowhere in the history and stories I read were any accounts of Europeans going into African Nations with vast armies and putting them ruin in open armed conflict. What I did see was a slow and insidious process of trading arms and alcohol to Africans willing to sell their enemies/neighbors.
Here is a link to a great video that tells the tale of the Madagascari Nobleman Maselvana and his leading an insurrection against Dutch Slavers aboard the Slave Ship Mirren in the 1760's off the coast of South Africa. I found it a sober reminder that many of our current problems are spawned of the same one's our ancestors faced among their own countrymen, greed and ignorance. Maselvana's story is a good example of the spirit our free ancestors of that day had and what we must exhibit in our everyday lives.
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