Twas’ 11 days before Christmas, around 9:38
when 20 beautiful children stormed through heaven's gate.

their smiles were contagious, their laughter filled the air.
they could hardly believe all the beauty they saw there.

they were filled with such joy, they didn't know what to say.

they remembered nothing of what had happened earlier that day.

"where are we?" asked a little girl, as quiet as a mouse.
"this is heaven." declared a small boy. "we're spending Christmas at God's house."

when what to their wondering eyes did appear,
but Jesus, their savior, the children gathered near.

He looked at them and smiled, and they smiled just the same.
then He opened His arms and He called them by name.

and in that moment was joy, that only heaven can bring
those children all flew into the arms of their King

and as they lingered in the warmth of His embrace,
one small girl turned and looked at Jesus' face.

and as if He could read all the questions she had
He gently whispered to her, "I'll take care of mom and dad."

then He looked down on earth, the world far below

He saw all of the hurt, the sorrow, and woe

then He closed His eyes and He outstretched His hand,
"Let My power and presence re-enter this land!"

"may this country be delivered from the hands of fools"
"I'm taking back my nation. I'm taking back my schools!"

then He and the children stood up without a sound.

"come now my children, let me show you around."

excitement filled the space, some skipped and some ran.
all displaying enthusiasm that only a small child can.

and I heard Him proclaim as He walked out of sight,
"in the midst of this darkness, I AM STILL THE LIGHT."

Written by Cameo Smith, Mt. Wolf, PA

PEACE.LOVE.HAPPINESS

 Today, May 6th 2012, marks the 10th anniversary since the remains of Sara “Saartjie” Baartman were returned to her homeland, in the Gamtoos Valley, South Africa.

For those who are unfamiliar with Sara Baartman, she was born in 1789, the year of the French Revolution. By the time she was a young adult she was enticed by a British businessman to sail with him to England, where she could display her body at exhibitions in exchange for a better standard of living. Sara, the “Hottentot Venus,” being a “Hottentot” woman (a derogatory term given), from the Khoisan tribe, had exceptionally large buttocks and genitals. This physical structure was synonymous of the women from that region.

After a few years of such exploitation in the UK she was probably sold to some other businessman, this time in France, where the mockery and abuse started all over again. After the French public got bored with her she was forced into prostitution and alcoholism. By the time she was 25years old she died of a disease associated with that profession. From there she was carved up and had her brains and genitals preserved in bottles by one of Napoleon’s surgeons. These parts, along with her bones were put on display in a museum called Musee de L’homme, for almost 200 years. After public outcry over the years, the artifacts were taken off display and replaced by casts.

When Nelson Mandela came to power in 1994, one of the first things he requested was to have her remains brought back to South Africa for a decent burial.

Out of embarrassment, it wasn’t until May 6th 2002 before the French finally followed up on that request. Sara’s remains were finally buried near a small town called Hankey, on the Eastern Cape three months later.

Because of the touchiness when it comes to race, it was rarely uttered that this whole experience had surpassed the notoriety of the Elephant Man.

To Sara, there is life after death… The ancestors still speak.
PEACE.LOVE.HAPPINESS

The Zong Massacre (1781)
 

Image Ownership: Public Domain
The slave ship, Zong, departed the coast of Africa on 6 September 1781 with 470 slaves. Since this human chattel was such a valuable commodity at that time, many captains took on more slaves than their ships could accommodate in order to maximize profits. The Zong’s captain, Luke Collingwood, overloaded his ship with slaves and by 29 November many of them had begun to die from disease and malnutrition. The Zong then sailed in an area in the mid-Atlantic known as “the Doldrums” because of periods of little or no wind. As the ship sat stranded, sickness caused the deaths of seven of the 17 crew members and over 50 slaves.

Increasingly desperate, Collingwood decided to “jettison” some of the cargo in order to save the ship and provide the ship owners the opportunity to claim for the loss on their insurance. Over the next week the remaining crew members threw 132 slaves who were sick and dying over the side. Another 10 slaves threw themselves overboard in what Collingwood later described as an “Act of Defiance.”

Upon the Zong’s arrival in Jamaica, James Gregson, the ship’s owner, filed an insurance claim for their loss. Gregson argued that the Zong did not have enough water to sustain both crew and the human commodities. The insurance underwriter, Thomas Gilbert, disputed the claim citing that the Zong had 420 gallons of water aboard when she was inventoried in Jamaica. Despite this the Jamaican court found in favour of the owners. The insurers appealed the case and in the process provoked a great deal of public interest and the attention of Great Britain's abolitionists. The leading abolitionist at the time, Granville Sharp, used the deaths of the slaves to increase public awareness about the slave trade and further the anti-slavery cause. It was he who first used the word massacre. A London court found in favour of the insurers and held that the cargo had been poorly managed as the captain should have made a suitable allowance of water for each slave.

Sharp attempted to have criminal charges brought against the Captain, crew, and the owners but was unsuccessful. Great Britain's The Solicitor General, Justice John Lee, however, refused to take up the criminal charges claiming “What is this claim that human people have been thrown overboard? This is a case of chattels or goods. Blacks are goods and property; it is madness to accuse these well-serving honourable men of murder… The case is the same as if wood had been thrown overboard.”

Although those who were responsible for the Zong massacre were never brought to justice, the event itself increased the profile of abolitionists such as Granville Sharp and Olaudah Equiano and brought new converts including Thomas Clarkson and Reverend John Ramsay. They in turn inspired the actions of William Wilberforce who led the successful campaign to have Parliament abolish slavery throughout the British Empire in 1833.



Sources:
National Maritime Museum (Ref: REC/19), Grayson v Gilbert 1783; James Walvin, The Zong A Massacre, the Law and the End of Slavery (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2011); Hugh Thomas, The Slave Trade: The Story of the Atlantic Slave Trade: 1440-1870 (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1999).

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PEACE.LOVE.HAPPINESS