The Untold Story of African Resistance Against the Slave Trade

 

  • However, let it be remembered that African communities did not sit back and watch in glee; they fought back.

     

     

     

     

    Abdel Kader Kane, a Muslim leader of the Futa Toro region in Northern Senegal is renowned for having resisted the slave trade. When the French took three children in his jurisdiction, Kane sent a letter to the governor that said, “We are warning you that all those who will come to our land to trade (in slaves) will be killed and massacred if you do not send our children back. Would not somebody who was very hungry abstain from eating if he had to eat something cooked with his blood? We absolutely do not want you to buy Muslims under any circumstances. I repeat that if your intention is to always buy Muslims you should stay home and not come to our country anymore. Because all those who will come can be assured that they will lose their life.”

    Communities relocated to defensive locations, left paths to villages overgrown and in the case of Ouladah Equiano, children took turns to guard each other. It was not enough. There remained corruptible individuals whose greed overpowered their humanity. These bad seeds helped perpetuate the dehumanisation of fellow black men and women. They set in motion a cycle of events that left many black men stuck with no other history but exploitation and oppression. However, let it be remembered that African communities did not sit back and watch in glee; they fought back. (Tatenda Gwaambuka)